Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
Late taekwondo master named overseas Korean of the month
Late taekwondo master Rhee Jhoon-goo / Korea Times file
By Jung Da-hyun
The Overseas Koreans Agency said Thursday that late taekwondo master Rhee Jhoon-goo has been named overseas Korean of the month in recognition of his role in globalizing taekwondo and advancing Korea-U.S. sports diplomacy.
Rhee, widely regarded as the person who first established taekwondo in the U.S., helped elevate the martial art beyond self-defense into a tool for cultural exchange, diplomacy and international sports engagement.
Born in 1932 in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Rhee was first introduced to taekwondo at age 16 through the Chung Do Kwan, one of Korea's oldest martial arts schools. While studying civil engineering at Texas State University in 1957, he founded a taekwondo club and began teaching U.S. students.
He established more than 60 taekwondo studios across the country, helping transform the discipline into a popular mainstream sport in the U.S.
He also played a key role in expanding taekwondo in the former Soviet Union, where martial arts were illegal at the time. Rhee traveled there to persuade senior officials to legalize the practice, organizing seminars and helping to lay the groundwork for taekwondo’s institutional recognition and spread across the region.
Rhee also taught taekwondo to global figures including Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali, helping elevate the sport’s international standing. At Lee’s recommendation, Rhee later appeared in a Hong Kong film and served as a coach to Ali, helping to arrange the boxer’s visit to Korea and contributing to sports-based international exchange.
In 2000, he was named the only Korean American among 203 of the most successful and famous immigrants in U.S. history. In recognition of his achievements, Washington, D.C., designated June 28 as “Jhoon Rhee Day” in 2003. He was also awarded Korea’s Order of Civil Merit in 2009.
"Lee devoted his life to taekwondo, introducing its values to the U.S. and beyond as a pioneer of the sport and an early figure in the Korean wave,” said Overseas Koreans Agency Commissioner Kim Kyung-hyup. “By naming him as overseas Korean of the month, we hope his passion and dedication will be more widely recognized and remembered by future generations.”
Since March last year, the agency has selected and announced an overseas Korean of the month to honor ethnic Koreans who have contributed to Korea’s development or enhanced the standing of Korean communities in their countries of residence.