Taekwondo practitioner becomes cop
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Kim Seung-hee, a former national taekwondo champion turned police officer, demonstrates a side kick in front of her office in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Thursday. / Yonhap
By Kim Bo-eun
A skilled taekwondo practitioner is starting the second chapter of her life as a police officer.
Kim Seung-hee, 28, was one of the former or competing athletes hired as martial arts specialist police officers. She was assigned to Gunsan Police Station in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, earlier this month. Now undergoing police training, she will start working there in April.
Kim was a gold medalist in the 2004 Asian Taekwondo Championships and the 2011 World University Taekwondo Open Competition.
“I cannot express how happy I am,” Kim told The Korea Times. “Although I have just started training (as a police officer), the pride I feel through this job is much greater than when I was only practicing taekwondo.
“The greatest part is that I can help others through my work.”
Because she represented South Korea in taekwondo, Kim said she wanted to work for the country and its people.
Kim started taekwondo when she was in the fifth grade of elementary school. She was selected as a member of the national team in her third year of high school and continued practicing the martial art at university.
In 2011, Kim was ranked No. 1 in the preliminary trial to select members of the national team for the London Olympics, but finally failed to make it.
Kim kept practicing as a member of the taekwondo team of Ansan City, up until the end of last year. She was planning to become a trainer after retirement.
However, Kim came across the recruitment notice for police officers specializing in the martial arts, which encouraged her to switch her career path.
“Many people were also happy that as a woman I became a police officer with my athletic skills,” she said.
Including Kim, the National Police Agency hired 50 former martial arts practitioners as specialist officers last year, including taekwondo practitioners, judokas and kendo martial artists.