Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

‘Sowing the seeds of Taekwondo in South Sudan’

The Hanbit unit, which has been carrying out our Peace Keeping Operation (PKO) mission in South Sudan, was awarded the unit citation of merit for Taekwondo promotion, greeting the day of Taekwondo 2016.

The unity has been credited with popularizing Taekwondo in South Sudan and spreading interest in Taekwondo among UN member countries where the unit works. The trigger for the popularization of Taekwondo in South Sudan was Major Kim Sung-su, who taught Taekwondo during his dispatch in 2012. Since 2013, the 1st Hanbit unit has been running a Taekwondo class in earnest, and it has grown rapidly. So far, around 400 trainees have learned from the unit, and 100 of them hold black belts. The unit has also made an agreement with the World Taekwondo Headquarters, and carries out a belt test every other month with a panel of judges consisting of soldiers who hold a fourth-degree black belt and are qualified to judge the belt test. Those who pass the belt test are granted an official Dan certificate issued by Kukkiwon.

Thanks to these efforts, there are thousands of Taekwondo students in many areas in South Sudan, and some of them participated in the Africa qualifying rounds for the Rio Olympics 2016.

Major Kim Yun-min, president of civil-military cooperation team, said, “As the outpost for globalization of Taekwondo, we will do our utmost to provide and spread Taekwondo, with our pride and passion.”

By Chul-Hwan, Kim < droid001@dema.mil.kr >

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