[By WTF/NBC-1TV H. J Yook]The 2010 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships kicked off in Urumqi, China on July 17, 2010 for a four-day run. The invitational World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships, which take place at the Xinjiang Sports Center Gymnasium in downtown Urumqi, have attracted 19 male teams and 20 female teams. A total of 210 athletes, including 10 top-ranked players on the WTF Athlete Ranking, are attending this World Cup event. The countries dispatching male teams are host China, Korea, Iran, Chinese Taipei, Jordan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Senegal, Egypt, Spain, Turke
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]AMCHAM Korea expressed strong support for U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement at the G-20 Summit in Canada on Saturday that he will move forward with the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) in an early timeframe. President Obama stated after meeting with South Korean President Myung-bak Lee that he aims to resolve outstanding issues prior to his visit to Seoul for the G20 Summit in November and to present the agreement to the U.S. Congress in the few months that follow. “President Obama has shown the priority he is putting on this important deal by setting
[By WTF/NBC-1TV H. J Yook]Taekwondo has been classified as a category 2, optional sport at the Commonwealth Games. The Olympic sport of taekwondo, thus, stands a good chance of being on the official program of the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the earliest.The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) recently sent a letter to the World Taekwondo Federation on June 14, 2010 to inform the world’s taekwondo governing body of its decision to classify taekwondo as a category 2 sport.The CGF has three classifications of sports: core sports (Category 1), optional sports (Category 2), and recognized sports (C
WTF President Chungwon Choue proposed the creation of the so-called “Sport Peace Corps,” together with the United Nations, the International Olympic Committee and the International Sports Federations, at the U.N.-IOC Forum in Lausanne, Switzerland on May 22, 2010. “The Sport Peace Corps entails provisions of comprehensive sport-related assistance to not only underdeveloped countries, but any U.N.-assigned areas,” WTF President Choue said in his presentation on the second day of the two-day forum at the Olympic Museum Auditorium of the IOC Headquarters. The forum drew such influential internati
[By WTF/NBC-1TV]Korean President Lee Myung-bak (center at front row) and the First Lady pose with WTF President Chungwon Choue (fourth from right) and other dignitaries, including Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Yu Myung-hwan (third from right), and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr. Yu In-chon, in a ceremony for the WTF Taewkondo Peace Corps at Chung Wa Dae in Seoul, Korea on May 12, 2010.
[By WTF/NBC-1TV H. J Yook]Azerbaijan won one gold, four silver and three bronze medals for the overall men’s title at the 2nd WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 10, 2010. Turkey came next with two gold and three bronze medals, followed by Spain with one gold, one silver and one bronze and host Russia with one gold and two bronze medals. France finished fifth with one gold and one bronze. In the women’s category, host Russia clinched the overall women’s title with one gold and one silver, followed by Canada with one gold and the United Kingdom with one silve
The 2010 Francophone World Cup took place in Cotonou, Benin on May 2, 2010, drawing more than 100 taekwondo athletes from 23 French-speaking countries. The Francophone World Cup, the seventh edition of its kind, took place at the Palais des Sports in Cotonou. The inaugural Francophone World Cup dates back to 2002 in Paris, France. The 2nd edition was held in Rabat, Morocco in 2003; with the 3rd and 4th event in Tunis, Tunisia, and Niamey, Niger in 2005 and 2007, respectively. The fifth one took place in Libreville, Gabon in 2008 and the 6th edition in Lille, France in 2009. Among the participa
The exhibition stand of the World Taekwondo Federation has attracted high interest from participants in the 2010 SportAccord Convention in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The WTF exhibition stand, which opened on April 27 for a three-day run at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, featured a “WTF Kick and Win Challenge” event for the SportAccord participants. For the event, the WTF set up an electronic protector system and those who hit and/or kick the system won a WTF souvenir, drawing special attention from SportAccord exhibition visitors. The WTF also distributed a promotional brochure to the visitors
The 3rd Arab Taekwondo Championships Cup kicked off on April 22, 2010 for a five-day run in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The WTF-sanctioned event drew about 120 athletes from 12 Arab countries. The participating countries are host Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and Yemen. The inaugural Arab Cup was held in Sharm El Sheikh in 2005, with the second one at the same venue in 2007. Early in the day, the Executive Council meeting of the Arab Taekwondo Federation was held at the Concorde El Salam Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, in whic
The 2nd West Asian Senior Taekwondo Championship opened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on April 21, 2010 for a two-day run, drawing about 60 athletes from nine West Asian countries. The participating West Asian countries in the WTF-sanctioned biennial event are host Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar and Syria. The inaugural West Asian Senior Taekwondo Championship took place in Tehran, Iran in 2008, which attracted about 50 athletes from eight countries. The opening ceremony of the 2nd West Asian Championship took place on April 20, with the attendance of WTF President