Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Refugee taekwondo athlete makes journey to home of sport
From left, coach Asef Sabah, World Taekwondo (WT) President Choue Chung-won, Syrian refugee athlete Wael Fawaz Al-Farraj, and WT council member Maher Magableh pose at the WT office in Seoul on Tuesday. Courtesy of World Taekwondo
By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
Wael Fawaz Al-Farraj, 19, will go down in history as the first Syrian refugee athlete to participate in the Asian Taekwondo Championships and the Chuncheon Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships under the flag of World Taekwondo (WT).
The former tournament kicked off Wednesday, while the latter will be held on June 29.
Currently a resident of the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan, Al-Farraj has made a unique journey as an athlete in his community since becoming one of the first taekwondo trainees at the camp in 2016.
A diehard fan of renowned martial artist and actor Bruce Lee's movies, he dreamed of becoming a sports champion in his childhood.
“So when I saw the World Taekwondo demonstration team jumping, flying, and kicking (at Azraq camp in 2016), I thought I wanted to be one of them,” he said during an interview with The Korea Times through a translation from WT council member, Maher Magableh.
The Syrian athlete started learning taekwondo from the Azraq Academy's local coach Asef Sabah and became not only the first black belt there, but also contended for the Asian Qualifications for the refugee team of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Since then, taekwondo has become his everything and shaped a big part of who he is. Taekwondo made him grow stronger physically and mentally, and also taught him to treat others with more respect, according to his coach.
“Since the beginning, Wael was more disciplined than others, always showing up on time, listening attentively and behaving in class,” Sabah said. Since earning the black belt, he started taking more care of others and trying to become a good example to the community, the coach added.
Like any other world-class athlete, Al-Farraj has his mind set on winning at these international competitions and qualifying for the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Also, he hopes his journey sends a message of hope and resilience to all refugees in the world.
His journey to taekwondo's home country was made possible with the help of the WT and the THF.
“It's not easy to get permission (for a refugee) to leave the residing country,” said Magableh, explaining the four-month administrative work and efforts behind this journey. With the letter from the WT President Choue Chung-won, Al-Farraj was granted a passport, an exceptional permission from the Jordan government and a visa from the Korean embassy in Jordan to finally join the competition.
WT President Choue said such an effort is necessary to foster refugee athletes' international competitiveness.
“Refugee athletes face a certain disadvantage in pursuing combat sports such as taekwondo, as they have limited chances for one-on-one physical matches with other players in international competitions,” Choue said on the background of Al-Farraj's hard work.
According to THF, the foundation has provided taekwondo training for over 13,000 refugees since 2016 as a rehabilitation and empowerment tool in its grassroots projects at five refugee camps in four countries, including Jordan, Rwanda, Eswatini and Turkey.
Nine refugee athletes including Al-Farraj are chasing their Olympic dreams and participating in high-level competitions, three of whom made it to the IOC Refugee Olympics Tokyo 2020.
Choue believes formerly war-torn Korea's development to where it stands today was possible with the help of other countries, and it is the “taekwondo spirit” to give that help back to others who are in need.
“Taekwondo may have originated in Korea, but it's a world sport now,” Choue said. “It's Korea's gift to the world.”
Choue said the WT and THF plan to continue to support taekwondo training and necessary equipment, infrastructure and support for refugees and other vulnerable people around the world.