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June 23. (by Kang Chang-kwang

A North Korean taekwondo demonstration team headed by International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Chang Ung arrived in South Korea via Beijing on the afternoon of June 23 to take part in the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships (WTC).

While the visit was for an international competition organized by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), it is also drawing notice as the first instance of inter-Korean exchange since President Moon Jae-in took office. There is also the question of possible future athletic exchanges between South and North ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The visit by the North Korean taekwondo demonstration team was the first since 2007.

According to the WTC organizing committee, the visiting team included 36 members, including Chang and International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) secretary-general Ri Yong-son. Also included were four ITF officials: vice presidents Dato Leong Wai Meng and Mario Bogdanov, European Continental Federation president Michael Prewett, and spokesperson George Vitale. ITF is an international taekwondo organization led by North Korea.

The other 29 members of the delegation included the North Korean athletes giving the actual demonstrations and other figures from the athletic community, including the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee.

Chang, the delegation’s de facto leader, is considered North Korea’s leading sports diplomat and was elected a member of the IOC during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. As ITF president for the past 13 years, he has played a leading role in promoting taekwondo interchange between South and North. With South Korean IOC member Kim Woon-yong, he played a significant role in organizing the joint entrance of the South and North Korean teams at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

“The North Korean demonstration team’s visit was decided on over a month ago when the North accepted the WTF’s request,” explained a South Korean government official.

“While this is taking place through an international event with the World Taekwondo Championships, it’s also meaningful as the first example of inter-Korean interchange under the Moon Jae-in administration,” the official added.

Officials with the secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, North Korea’s organization for South Korean affairs, were also reportedly included among the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee officials visiting with the demonstration team.

Members of the North Korean taekwondo demonstration team wave as they leave Gimpo Airport

South Korean Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung is also scheduled to visit several events during the competition, including the opening ceremony on the afternoon of June 24.

“While we don’t yet have an official schedule to meet with the North, there could be lots of chances to meet during the luncheon or dinner,” a government official said.

The World Taekwondo Championships are the world’s biggest taekwondo festival, with 1,768 athletes taking part from 183 countries. After kicking off at 4 pm on June 24 with an opening ceremony at the T1 Arena of the Taekwondowon in Seolcheon, a township in Muju County, North Jeolla Province, the event is scheduled to last for eight days through June 30. The North Korean demonstration team is scheduled to perform at the opening ceremony (6 pm) and at the closing ceremony on June 30 (7:40 pm). The team will also be performing at the North Jeolla Provincial Office in Jeonju at 5 pm on June 26 and at the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) in Seoul at 4 pm on June 28. For all four performances, members will be sharing the stage with the South Korean-led WTF.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jong-hwan previously shared a message of strong commitment on June 20 to actively encouraging North Korean participation at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as a way of relaxing inter-Korean tensions. Some of the concrete suggestions Do offered included forming a united team with North Korean athletes participating on the South Korean women’s ice hockey team, which has qualified to compete; relaying the Olympic Torch in North Korea; inviting a North Korean cheering squad; and making use of North Korea’s Masikryong Ski Resort. Do plans to discuss the ideas with IOC president Thomas Bach, who is also attending the World Taekwondo Championships.

By Kim Kyung-moo, senior staff writer in Muju

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