Gangnam-gu Hosts Taekwondo Competition for Foreigners

On the 23rd, Kukkiwon Hosts 'Foreigners Taekwondo Competition and Korean Traditional Culture Experience' Festival...800 Taekwondo Practitioners from 40 Countries Compete Skills

Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jo Seong-myeong) will hold the ‘Foreigners Taekwondo Competition and Korean Traditional Culture Experience’ festival at Kukkiwon from 9 AM to 6 PM on the 23rd.

Co-hosted by Gangnam-gu, Kukkiwon, and the Korea Foreigners Taekwondo Culture Association, this event will feature about 800 participants from 40 countries currently residing in Korea, showcasing their honed Taekwondo skills. Participants include U.S. Forces Korea, foreign students and workers, and Taekwondo practitioners from multicultural families.

This event serves not only as a ‘competition’ to contest Taekwondo skills but also as a ‘cultural event’ to widely promote the excellence of Korea’s indigenous martial art, Taekwondo, to the world.

The district has prepared this event to actively cooperate with Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters, to widely promote Gangnam as the K-Culture Taekwondo Mecca and to create a harmonious venue where foreigners residing in Korea and multicultural families unite through the spirit of Taekwondo.

To ensure the successful hosting of this event, the district signed an agreement with Kukkiwon and the Korea Foreigners Taekwondo Culture Association, and from August 28 to September 16, promoted the competition to U.S. Forces Korea, foreign support organizations, and multicultural family support centers, recruiting participants and volunteer interpreters.

At the opening ceremony, foreign ambassadors to Korea from countries such as Spain and Greece will be invited as guests to boost the morale of their nationals participating in the competition. Before the event, the Kukkiwon demonstration team will perform Taekwondo and Nanta performances to raise the festival’s excitement. The competition will be divided into student divisions (elementary, middle, and high school students) and adult divisions. Participants will compete in five categories: Poomsae, sparring, hand strike breaking, speed kicking, and high jump kicking. Medals and plaques will be awarded according to rankings in each category.

On the day of the event, a Korean traditional culture experience will also be held. Attendees can try traditional games such as Jegichagi, royal court Tuho, spinning tops, and Neolttwigi, and take photos wearing Hanbok and Taekwondo uniforms. Crafts such as colorful pinwheels and traditional fans will also be showcased.

Jo Seong-myeong, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, stated, “Taekwondo, Korea’s traditional martial art, is a highly popular K-Culture resource among foreigners,” adding, “Through this event that unites people beyond nationality with the spirit of Taekwondo, we will widely promote Gangnam, the Taekwondo sanctuary, to the world.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.