How did the governments of North and South Korea promote the popularity of Tae Kwon Do worldwide?

Answer 1

The South Korean national Martial Art and national sport was developed in Seoul, South Korea between 1944 and 1955. The art was introduced to North Korea, and also became popular there, but North Korea has done little to promote Taekwondo worldwide.

As Taekwondo grew in popularity in South Korea, the sport aspect was promoted internally through national competitions, and later World Championships. During the Korean War (1950 - 53), South Korean Martial Art masters taught Korean soldiers and allied forces, including U.S. servicemen stationed in Korea. A handful of Taekwondo Masters in the Korean ROK Army traveled abroad, and spread the knowledge of Taekwondo on military bases worldwide throughout the 1960's and 70's. The Korean Tiger, Army Special Forces became feared for their Taekwondo skills in combat during the Vietnam War.

Also during the 1960's and 70's, many South Korean Taekwondo Masters began to immigrate to different countries, and started teaching in schools that later grew into national and international associations and federations.

In South Korea, the government got involved in promoting the art under the leadership of prominent politician, Dr. Un-Young Kim, and invested in building the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters and national academy) in Seoul, South Korea in 1972. Dr. Kim became the President of the KTA, and was elected president of the Kukkiwon. In 1973, the first World Taekwondo Championships were held at the Kukkiwon, and a meeting followed between delegates from several nations that formed the World Taekwondo Federation as a sport governing body for Taekwondo competition worldwide. Dr. Un-Young Kim was elected as the WTF President.

Dr. Kim was also the Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and pushed for the acceptance of Taekwondo as an official Olympic Sport. The WTF was subsequently recognized by the IOC as the IF (International Federation) for governing the Olympic sport of Taekwondo, and it made its debut as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympic games in Seoul, South Korea.

Taekwondo was also an exhibition sport at the Barcelona Summer games in 1992, and by 1994, was officially adopted by the IOC as a full medal sport for the 2000 Summer games in Sydney, Australia.

The South Korean government continues to promote Taekwondo through cultural tourism, and inclusion in the curriculum at major universities. The government helps to support the training of athletes and hosting of World Championships.