President’s Message

2023: Happy 50th Birthday, World Taekwondo!

Happy New Year and I wish all Taekwondoin around the world a safe and wonderful 2023!

It’s a big year as we celebrate our Golden Jubilee. World Taekwondo was founded on May 28, 1973, and has since turned the sport into a globally recognised brand.

Over the past 50 years, World Taekwondo:

• Has grown its membership base to 212 Member National Associations, plus one Refugee Team

• Was included in six consecutive Olympic Games (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020), with Paris 2024 and LA 2028 on the horizon

• Debuted in the Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020

• Has organised hundreds of top-tier events including 25 World Championships, 13 Junior Championships, five Cadet Championships, 12 Poomsae Championships, and nine Para Taekwondo Championships

• Has been recognised as the leading international federation on humanitarian activities

We plan multiple events celebrating this history in the year ahead.

Our theme is “Peace in Mind, Taekwondo at Heart.” I ask all Member National Associations to promote the theme and 50th Founding Anniversary logo in your respective events in 2023.

World Taekwondo will organise a special gala at the World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 28 to commemorate the best male and female athletes from each Olympic and Paralympic Games.

During the event, we will also honour the founding Member National Associations of World Taekwondo that participated in the inaugural World Championships and General Assembly on May 28, 1973.

World Taekwondo and the THF will invite international fed- erations for the inaugural Hope and Dreams Sports Festival for Refugees. I firmly believe that all sports must be inclusive so World Taekwondo will take the initiative to create a Hope and Dreams Sports Peace Corps comprising the international federations of the Olympic and Paralympic movements. Now, let us look back over 2022, the year that saw us accelerate out of the pandemic and return to business.

Among the year’s first were the inauguration of the World Taekwondo Hall of Fame, Para Taekwondo’s entry into the elite Grand Prix Series, and an electrifying World Taekwondo Demonstration Team performance at the ANOC Awards. Taekwondo not only thrilled. We also inspired.

In 2022, World Taekwondo and the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation organised the first-ever Hope and Dreams Refugee Taekwondo Championships in Amman, Jordan, with the participation of more than 200 youths and children from the Azraq and Za’atari refugee camps.

Taekwondo won the second highest number of scholarship holders in the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship Program for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with eight athletes, including two from the Azraq refugee camp.

Most importantly - and as always - I wish to thank the Member National Associations and authorities for your support in hosting World Taekwondo events. Your support to develop elite athletes and reach out to the grassroots is the essence of Taekwondo’s promotion globally.

I believe that 2023 will truly be a special year as we celebrate half a century for our sport - and lay the foundations for World Taekwondo’s Centenary.

I thank you in advance for your continued support as we carry on in our journey to strive for excellence.

Be safe, healthy and happy in 2023!

Chungwon Choue President, World Taekwondo