World Taekwondo chief proud of taekwondo's role in improving inter-Korean relations

This year's catchphrase for World Taekwondo (WT) is "peace is more precious than triumph," and its chief, Choue Chung-won, believes the Seoul-based organization is on the right track to help bring peace to the Korean peninsula with the traditional martial art.

Choue, who has been leading WT since 2004, will visit Pyongyang Tuesday through Saturday this week along with a WT taekwondo demonstration team after receiving an invitation from the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation (ITF).

The WT demonstration team, comprising 22 South Koreans, will give an exclusive performance on Tuesday and will stage a joint performance with an ITF demonstration team on Friday. It will be the first time since April that South Korean taekwondo practitioners have performed in the North Korean capital.

Choue, 70, wasn't able to visit Pyongyang in April due to his WT schedule, but this time, he is likely to discuss further cooperation and exchanges with the North Koreans.

"Taekwondo is a martial art, but we want to show it can also point the direction to world peace," Choue said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Friday. "The performance and background music's theme will be taekwondo as a sport that can contribute to peace."

The South's WT and the North's ITF have moved closer to each other in recent years after signing a "Protocol of Accord" in August 2014, a landmark agreement dealing with the exchange of demonstration teams and other cooperation matters.

Following year, the two organizations had a joint performance during the 2015 WT World Championships in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It was the first time that the ITF taekwondo demonstration team had performed at an event organized by the WT.

The ITF later sent a demonstration team to the WT World Taekwondo Championships in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, in June 2017, as well as to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February 2018.

The WT demonstration team was also invited to perform at the 2017 ITF World Championships, but wasn't able to visit Pyongyang for various reasons. But it made a trip to Pyongyang this April with an art troupe and performed twice.

Such exchanges between the two sides have been recognized as a move that have helped ease tensions on the Korean peninsula. Choue said it's an achievement of the joint efforts by the WT and ITF.

"I'm very satisfied that sports can pursue peace regardless of political problems," he said. "Our member nations and executive members are also proud of taekwondo for playing a role in making a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations.

According to Choue, taekwondo exchanges between the WT and ITF are receiving a warm welcome from world sports leaders, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

"We recently visited Buenos Aires for the Youth Olympic Games, and the IOC members and international sports federation chiefs all gave words of support," he said. "Victory earned from war will not last long. I believe taekwondo will be remembered as a sport that has contributed to peace on the Korean peninsula."

The WT is currently the official international taekwondo governing body as recognized by the IOC. The ITF has different sets of rules from the WT.

But Choue emphasized that there was only one taekwondo. The ITF was founded in 1966 in Seoul by former South Korean army major general Choi Hong-hi, who later moved to Canada as a political exile. Choi and the ITF started to spread taekwondo and build up their relationships with North Korea from the 1980s.

Meanwhile, the WT was established in 1973 and former IOC Vice President Kim Un-yong served as the inaugural chief.

"We just had this wall that blocked our will," Choue said. "Originally, there was one taekwondo."

Choue added that when WT people see ITF performances, the taekwondo doesn't seem strange or unfamiliar.

"If we consider we've been separated since the 1980s, it's been 40 years (that the two Koreas have had their own taekwondo) and it's not going to be easy for us to become one immediately," he said. "But I believe we won't need another 40 years. Probably (after) a few years, we'll have stronger cooperative relations."

The Protocol of Accord signed in 2014 includes mutual cooperation between the WT and ITF in various areas. One is to help WT and ITF taekwondo practitioners take part in each other's competitions even though their rules are different.

Currently, ITF taekwondo fighters can participate in the Olympics, although they have to pass the qualifying rounds under WT rules. But in order to boost exchanges in other kyorugi, or sparring, competitions and poomsae, or forms, events, Choue said establishing a joint training center could be a solution.

"If we can establish a joint training center, and conduct training for coaches as well as judges, it will be helpful to narrow down the differences of the two sides in kyorugi or poomsae," he said. "Using the WT's training centers in various places in the world could also be a solution."

For Choue, his Pyongyang visit is also personally meaningful. Choue's parents were born in the North before Korea was divided into two sides.

"My father was chief of a committee for reunion of separated families for more than 10 years, but he passed away without visiting his hometown (of Unsan, North Pyeongan Province)," he said. "I want to go to my parents' hometown, but this time I think I'll have to be satisfied with our work of strengthening cooperation and having developmental discussions." (Yonhap)