I heard from a friend that there used to be many more Olympic medals
(events really) for Archery.  Like, as many as they have swimming. 
But then it was reduced to the 4 (or so) events it is now.  They also
said that this was because the sport is typically dominated by Korea
and the other asian countries.  How much of this is true?

Hello there

Modern Olympic archery has an interesting history, including being
dropped completely for a time.  Archery events were originally left up
to the host countries to decide just what the events would be.

You will find a good overview here:
http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olarchery.shtml - From hickoksports.com

If events were dropped from the Olympic schedule only because one
country or the other dominated, then more events than archery would
eventually have been eliminated. - - And I don't think the US would
have gone along with dropping events where we were also a powerhouse. 
In fact, a new archery event was even added in Korea.

"John Williams and Doreen Wilber of the USA took gold when archery was
re-introduced to the Olympic Games in 1972.

"A team competition was added to the medal programme in Seoul in 1988,
with host nation South Korea claiming both the men's and women's gold
medals.

"The host nations dominated at the early Olympics, but since 1972 it
has been the USA and South Korea who have proved the most powerful
nations, with the Korean women equalling their 1988 clean sweep of
titles four years ago." - Quote from BBC Sport: -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/archery/history/default.stm

In another bit of Olympic archery history: - - "Archery became an
official Olympic event in 1900. It was featured again in 1904, 1908
and 1920, then dropped from competition due to lack of organization
and interest. The sport resurfaced as an Olympic event in 1972, and
has undergone numerous rule changes since 1984. Team events were
introduced in 1988." - Quote from CBC Canada -
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/sports/archery/history.html

And another: - "Archery first appeared as a sport in the 1900 Olympics
Games in Paris and was held at the Games of 1904, 1908 and 1920.
However, international rules had not yet been developed and each host
country used its own format. As a result, archery events in these
early Olympic Games varied widely. Because of the lack of uniform
international rules archery was then dropped from the Olympic Games."
- Quote from archeryweb.com
http://archeryweb.com/archery/olympics.htm

So yes, the number of archery events in the Olympic Games has varied
but not for the reason of any one country dominating the sport.  When
the sport was re-introduced in 1972, there were only two events for
medals. Now there are four.

Search - Google
Terms - olympics archery history

If I may clarify anything, please ask.

Cheers
Digsalot

Thanks for the quick and informative response!