Kukkiwon, the “World Taekwondo Headquarters”, and Seoul has agreed to speed up the process of selecting the site for the construction of the new Kukkiwon. The final candidate site will be confirmed as early as first half of this year.

On January 11, Kukkiwon President Lee Dong-sup met with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon at Seoul City Hall and reviewed the candidate sites suggested by Kukkiwon and Seoul City. President Lee and Mayor Oh had signed an MOU for “Relocation of Kukkiwon in Seoul and Promotion of Taekwondo and Seoul Tourism” last May at Seoul City Hall and have been discussing various aspects of the project ever since.

Kukkiwon which is currently located at Gangnam District of Seoul has been serving as the mecca for Taekwondo practitioners around the world for the past half-century. It has also been an advance guard and forerunner in promoting K-culture but over the years, there have been some safety concerns due to facility deterioration. In 2020, a survey conducted by Gangnam District Office discovered the presence of asbestos in the buildings. Asbestos is a highly dangerous substances that can hardly ever be removed from the body and cause cancer when inhaled. It’s banned in many countries around the world.

Kukkiwon also have been dealing with the lack of convenient facilities and there were many other safety concerns related to facility deterioration. Not only that, the facilities are constantly at risk of fires, water leaks, short circuits and power outages from natural disasters like typhoons and heavy rain. Over the years, 3,527 VIPs and state guests including the late Queen Elizabeth II and Belgium's King Philippe have received honorary dans.

“In less than a year since we actively joined together to sign an MOU for the construction a new Kukkiwon, we made tangible progress for the project. The year 2023 in which we start a new half-century, will be a meaningful year where we strengthen the global presence of Korea’s national martial art Taekwondo” said Kukkiwon President Lee Dong-sup.

Kukkiwon which has been designated as a future heritage of Seoul in 2013, will be renovated and be used for various purposes including education, training and tourism.

On January 11 and 12, Kukkiwon held media conferences with major media outlets and journalists specialized in Taekwondo affairs to share information on the construction of the new Kukkiwon and Kukkiwon’s key agendas for 2023 such as ▷5th Year Anniversary Ceremony Celebrating Taekwondo’s Official Designation as Korea’s National Martial Art ▷Expansion of Overseas Representative Offices and Branches and, ▷Revival of the Quarterly Magazine.

Kukkiwon decided to hold the 5th year anniversary celebrating Taekwondo’s official designation as Korea’s national martial art in 2018 on March 25 in Gwanghwamun, Seoul. At this event, around 10,000 Taekwondo practitioners wearing dobok will perform a group Taeguk 1 Jang demonstration. President Lee will be the chief of the ceremony and Mayor Oh the vice chief of the ceremony.