The 1979 Asian Men's Handball Championship was the second Asian Championship, which was held from 1 to 11 November 1979, in Nanjing, China. acted as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Japan qualified for Olympic tournament 1980 but refused to play, China apparently too. So Kuwait took their place.
South Korea probably did not participate, because the tournament was played in China.