By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
BEIJING _ Concern is rising among Korean officials that China might try to assert taekwondo as its own homegrown sport.
Ko Eui-min, chairman of the World Taekwondo Federation Technical Committee, said, ``China is doubted to have been adopting its Northeast Asia Project in taekwondo.''
Northeast Asia Project is an attempt to distort ancient Korean history in the northeastern territory of what is now China, including the Koguryo Kingdom (37 B.C.-A.D. 668) and the Palhae Kingdom (698-926).
``I was really upset to hear that the broadcaster at Changping Stadium in Beijing said taekwondo is a Chinese martial art, during the 2007 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Championships,'' he said.
On the first day of the biennial competition, he introduced taekwondo, saying, ``Taekwondo originated from Korea, combining Japanese and Chinese martial arts.''
A similar incident happened at the opening ceremony.
During the congratulatory performances with the subject of taekwondo, except for the Korea Tigers' performance, the events were staged with Chinese martial arts, which confused many Koreans present at the stadium.
``I feel really sorry that we have not tried to protect taekwondo while China is preparing for the event. Although many renovations have been under way inside the taekwondo governing body after new leaders like the president and general secretary took office, we still have a lot of things to do,'' said the 68-year-old taekwondo master, who resides in Germany.
In addition, Chinese enthusiasm about taekwondo has seemed to grow further.
At the opening ceremony, Chinese fans filled Changping Stadium, which seats 5,600 with five courts, to experience the heightened interest of taekwondo in China.
According to the WTF, 335 people from 151 media outlets from 46 countries covered the world championships, and Chinese reporters accounted for 65 percent, 196 people. The main broadcasting company Beijing Television broadcast the championships live each day.
Although the admission fee was 80 yuan for an adult and 40 for a student, which is relatively high, about 4,000 fans bought tickets to the event each day.
In Sichuan Province, which has a population of more than 100 million, and Henan Province, with approximately 92 million, taekwondo was selected as a required subject in elementary schools last year.
With such support, taekwondo's popularity in China has skyrocketed since it started officially in 1992.
At the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004, Chinese women outlasted Korea in gold medals, 2-to-1.
Despite the situation going on like this, Korea still struggles to develop its own sport, engrossed in internal discord between related authorities. ^For example, the Taekwondo Park project is still at a crossroad because of different interests from relevant parties.
The park originally was to be built in Muju, North Jeolla Province, and open in 2013.
To make matters worse, people's interest in the sport seems to be much lower than that of their Chinese counterparts.
``Unless we pay more attention to taekwondo, we will lose our own soul to China,'' white-haired Ko lamented.