A celebration for the “2023 Taekwondo Day for Foreigners Living in Korea” was held for the first time this year.

In the presence of around 400 guests including Kukkiwon Chairman of the Board, Jeon Gap-gil, Kukkiwon President Lee Dong-sup, Vice President Noh Soon-myung, WTA President Kim Sae-hyuk, Park Hyun-seop who is a member of the Council of Elders, Kukkiwon executives and employees, Sara Solís, Ambassador of Guatemala to the Republic of Korea, U.S soldiers stationed in Korea and foreign students attending schools in Korea, the celebration was held at the Korean Science and Technology Center in Seoul on October 31.

The event was held to share the project Kukkiwon has carried out in 2023, to strengthen bonds among trainees, to promote cultural exchange and to award outstanding training institutes, instructors and trainees of the “Taekwondo Promotion Project for Foreigners Living in Korea”

It proceeded with the opening speech, welcome speech, congratulatory speeches, 2023 project performance report, honorary dan awarding ceremony, awards ceremony and Kukkiwon Demonstration Team’s performance.

“I’d like to thank all the instructors for their hard work in spreading Taekwondo and the trainees for actively participating in the training over the year. I hope you can communicate with each other and exchange your cultures through Taekwondo which has a great power. I also hope to see active and passionate discussions on how we could develop the project continuously in the years to come“ said Jeon Gap-gil, Kukkiwon Chairman of the Board

”Taekwondo is a traditional martial art that holds the essence of Korea’s spirit. I hope today’s celebration offers foreigners living in Korea an opportunity to better understand Korean culture.“ said Director Seong Chang-hee of the Korea Defense Language Institute

Kim Mun-ok, the head of the project and a director at Kukkiwon, then gave a project performance report and awarded honorary dans.

President Lee Dong-sup awarded honorary dans to foreign ambassadors to the Republic of Korea, Ambassador Paul Duclos of Peru, Ambassador Sara Solís of Guatemala and Ambassador Kirom Salohiddin Amriddinzoda of Tajikistan for contributing to the development of Taekwondo and expansion of the martial art across the globe.

Also, 1 brigade, 3 battalions, 27 companies, 3 universities, 2 instructors and 60 trainees who have shown outstanding performance in the “Taekwondo Promotion Project for Foreigners Living in Korea” were selected and awarded.

”Over the past year, instructors across the nation have strived to spread Taekwondo and Korean culture by teaching Taekwondo. Kukkiwon will try to develop and implement more effective policies that could help foreigners living in Korea practice Taekwondo and interact with each other better“ said Kukkiwon President Lee Dong-sup.

Meanwhile, through the “2023 Taekwondo Promotion Project for Foreigners Living in Korea”, Kukkiwon and 45 instructors at 47 training centers are providing Taekwondo training to U.S. soldiers stationed in Korea, foreign students in Korea and foreigners working in Korea.