The World Taekwondo Federation held a joint meeting of presidents and secretaries general of the WTF Continental Unions, the first of its kind in the WTF’s 35-year history, at the WTF headquarters in Seoul on Jan. 10, 2008. A day later on Jan. 11, the WTF held its Executive Committee Meeting, the third of its kind.The Joint Meeting of Continental Unions drew all the presidents and secretaries general of the WTF’s five Continental Unions. Mr. Ji Ho Choi of the United States attended the meeting in his capacity as the president of the Pan American Taekwondo Union. He was elected PATU president l
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]Master Ji Ho Choi of the United States was elected the new president of the Pan American Taekwondo Union at its General Assembly in Cali, Colombia on Dec. 7, 2007.The election took place one day before the 2007 WTF Pan American Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which started on Dec. 8 for a two-day run.Master Choi, who has served as executive director of the PATU, will serve as the new president of the PATU until the next General Assembly, which is scheduled in Puerto Rico on the occasion of the 2008 Pan American Taekwondo Championship
WTF President Chungwon Choue proposed the creation of the so-called “Sport Peace Corps” at an international forum on peace and sport in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on Dec. 6, 2007.“Inspired by the ‘takeowndo peace corps,’ I propose developing a ‘Sport Peace Corps’ program to expand the initiative globally in a larger scale and to involve other international organizations,” said WTF President Choue.He said, “The Sport Peace Corps entails provision of comprehensive sport-related assistance to the underdeveloped countries or the United Nations-assigned areas.” “The assistance includes coaching and train
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]The Korean Fair Play Committee (KFPC) held its first Korean Fair Play Award ceremony in Seoul, Korea on Nov. 21, 2007.The awarding ceremony took place at the Olympic Parktel in Seoul, drawing hundreds of sports figures.In the men’s individual division, Song Jin-woo, a pitcher of the Hanwha Eagles professional baseball club, earned the honors as the winner of the 2007 Korean Fair Play Award. The honors in the women’s individual category went to Chun Joo-weon, a guard of the Shinhan Bank Sbirds women’s basketball team. The Korean national men’s and women’s basketball teams
Denmark and Chinese Taipei grabbed one gold medal each on the second day of the 2nd WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Nov. 5, 2007. Korea reaffirmed its supremacy in taekwondo poomsae as it won eight out of 10 gold medals up for grabs on the second day of the three-day event, which took place at the Incheon World Gymnasium. Turkey won four silvers and one bronze medal, followed by Iran which clinched two silver and three bronzes.There was a special demonstration of new styles of poomsae, “Hanryu” and “Beekack,” which were jointly produced by the WTF, the K
The 2nd WTF World Taekwondo Championships kicked off in a ceremony in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Nov. 4, 2007.The three-day event, which took place at the Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium, drew about 500 athletes and officials from 50 countries.The WTF-promoted Poomsae Championships, which launched last year as part of the WTF’s efforts to further expand the global taekwondo population, featured 16 divisions.On the opening day of the championships, a trio of German females (Gerber Petra, Manschwetus Clivia and Turner Imke) won the gold medal in the 2nd female team division. The silver went to Sp