A meaningful event was held to discuss and propose various key strategies for “Rebooting Taekwondo, the Original Hallyu”.

At MBN’s 29th anniversary reporting conference, “Rebooting Taekwondo, the Original Hallyu” co-hosted by Kukkiwon, MBN and The Maeil Business Newspaper on November 23 at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul, various ideas on how Taekwondo, the originator of the Korean Wave phenomenon, should be further promoted as a cultural product representing Korea.

Around 300 prominent figures from various fields attended the event, including Kukkiwon President Lee Dong-sup, Chairman Jang Dae-hwan of the Maeil Business Media Group, Chairman Kim Jin-pyo of the National Assembly, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Chairman Lee Joong-geun of Booyoung Group, Jang Mi-ran, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Lee Dae-hoon, former national Taekwondo athlete, Kang Wan-jin and Jang Joon, gold medalists at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.

“The seeds Taekwondo has sown around the world have grown and they are now ecstatic about everything Korea sees, hears and tastes. This is the moment where we have to take Taekwondo to a new level and I hope today’s reporting conference gives us the insights on how Taekwondo could go beyond the originator of the Korean Wave phenomenon and serve as a new platform for globalizing K-culture.” said Chairman Jang Dae-hwan of the Maeil Business Media Group, opening the event.

On this day, Nam Sang-seok, chief researcher at Kukkiwon, examined what’s going on today by giving a presentation entitled “Taekwondo, the Original Soft Power”. Nam explained how Taekwondo spread across the world since the 1950s and started the “Korean Wave” phenomenon, showing interviews and video clips. Also, showing the results of a survey with 752 foreign Taekwondo trainees and instructors, Nam emphasized that the spiritual value of Taekwondo and training could have positive impacts such as enhancing practitioners’ confidence and fitness.

The majority of the survey respondents said that “the spiritual value of Taekwondo is important”(92.4%). Also, the survey showed that “increased confidence (95.8%)”, “enhanced fitness (96.3%)”, “recommendation to others (96.9%)” and “want to get to know Korea more (90.3%)” were the effects of Taekwondo training.

The fact that Taekwondo led the trainees to develop interest in various types of Korean culture such as food, beauty products and music, showed the potential and possibility of Taekwondo as a platform for K-culture.

MBN reporter Oh Tae-yoon presented what’s called RISE (Region, International, Support, Event) as four key strategies for developing Taekwondo. R (Region) represents localization strategies for regions around the world, I (International) represents plans to strengthen international competitiveness of the martial art, S (Support) represents exposure of Taekwondo through various media channels and E (Event) represents strategies to plan various global Taekwondo events including plans to designate “UN International Taekwondo Day”. Oh received a big round of applause when he suggested that President Yoon Seok-yul could suggest the designation of the “International Taekwondo Day” at the UN General Assembly in 2024 and that a global Taekwondo event could be held in 2025.

Key figures that attended the reporting conference all agreed on the importance and added value of Taekwondo and on the role Taekwondo can play in improving the national brand of Korea.

“Taekwondo spread across the world even before the emergence of the term ”Hallyu“. There have been many achievements over the years but I hope to see wise directions and plans for expanding the cultural territories of Taekwondo” said Chairman Kim Jin-pyo of the National Assembly.

“Taekwondo has a lot of potential as a tourism product because it can be demonstrated and experienced in many ways. The city of Seoul will provide all the necessary support so that Taekwondo be loved more around the globe” commented Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.

Also, Jang Mi-ran, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “The government will look more closely into the martial art and provide more support to globalize Taekwondo and make the martial art a key brand of Korea”.

On this day, a presenter also received a big round of applause when he said that there are 4 billion followers of football and but only 200 million followers of Taekwondo and that everyone in the government, National Assembly and relevant agencies should work together to increase the number of Taekwondo followers to 2 billion.

“Kukkiwon’s poom and dan are issued in 203 countries and there are 200 million followers of Taekwondo around the world. Taekwondo is a powerful force that unites all regardless of race, culture or ideology. I hope to see passionate discussions and communication on Taekwondo today” said Kukkiwon President Lee Dong-sup.

Over the years, the MBN Reporting Conferences have explored important social topics in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, such as big data, AI, smart mobility and quantum computers. And this year’s reporting conference which is the 7th conference, focused on rebooting Taekwondo which was the originator of and the driving force for the Korean Wave phenomenon, as K-content is taking the world by storm today.