SunJae Park, president of the Italian Taekwondo Federation, was unanimously elected Acting President of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in a meeting of the WTF Executive Council held at the conference room of the Radisson Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, on Feb. 15, 2004. Out of 31, 28 members attended the meeting.
He is succeeding Dr. Un Yong Kim who founded the WTF in 1973 and had been in its leadership in the last 30 years. Park will be in the acting presidency pending the election of a new President in the extraordinary General Assembly.
The meeting, convened to deal with the WTF leadership crisis caused by the announcement of Dr. Un Yong Kim to resign on Jan. 9, 2004, also decided to convene the extraordinary General Assembly on the occasion of the 5th World Junior Championships to be held in Sunchon, Korea, on June 12-18, 2004, to elect a new WTF President. However, the exact date of holding the special Assembly has yet to be decided.
Before electing Park as the Acting President, the attendants made a decision through a vote on whether Dr. Kim’s resignation announced earlier through press conference should be accepted or not. In the vote, 18 supported to accept his resignation while four opposed to it, three abstained and three others remained non-committal.
The election in the Executive Council, the highest decision-making body of the WTF, stood for the first-ever change of command in the leadership of the organization since its establishment in 1973. Park will play a role of WTF Acting President until the convocation of the extraordinary General Assembly in June in which a new leader, to complete Dr. Kim’s remaining term of office, will be elected.
Before concluding the meeting, the attendants unanimously designated Dr. Kim as WTF Honorary President in recognition of his contribution to the development of the sport.
Out of six Vice Presidents, five attended the meeting. They are Park who was elected Acting President; William Hybl, former president of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC); Nat Indrapana, Thai IOC member; Sang Lee, former president of the United States Taekwondo Union and Cha Sok Park, President of Pan-Am Taekwondo Union.
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Monday, January 19, 2004
Letter from WTF Secretary General
Ref. No. 2004/024
January 13, 2004
To: Presidents
Member National Associations
Dear Sir/Madam,
As you may already know, Dr. Un Yong Kim expressed his intention to
resign from the presidency of the WTF Friday (Jan. 9) in connection
with prosecution investigation into his alleged corruption charges.
In connection with the regrettable situation, I would like to inform
you of the fact that the WTF secretariat is being operated normally
and there is no problem in dealing with day-to-day affairs. The
preparations for the Athens Olympic Taekwondo games are also well on
the way.
On the heel of the successful conclusion of the World Qualification
Tournament in Paris last month, the preparation for the regional
qualification tournaments are being made smoothly and they will take
place as scheduled.
All member nations are hoped to firmly unite to support the WTF to
help it overcome any difficulties that may lie ahead in the days to
come.
Sincerely,
Kum Hong Lee
Secretary General
WTF
January 13, 2004
To: Presidents
Member National Associations
Dear Sir/Madam,
As you may already know, Dr. Un Yong Kim expressed his intention to
resign from the presidency of the WTF Friday (Jan. 9) in connection
with prosecution investigation into his alleged corruption charges.
In connection with the regrettable situation, I would like to inform
you of the fact that the WTF secretariat is being operated normally
and there is no problem in dealing with day-to-day affairs. The
preparations for the Athens Olympic Taekwondo games are also well on
the way.
On the heel of the successful conclusion of the World Qualification
Tournament in Paris last month, the preparation for the regional
qualification tournaments are being made smoothly and they will take
place as scheduled.
All member nations are hoped to firmly unite to support the WTF to
help it overcome any difficulties that may lie ahead in the days to
come.
Sincerely,
Kum Hong Lee
Secretary General
WTF
Friday, January 09, 2004
Kim Un-Yong Resigned.
IOC vice president Kim Un-yong resigned Friday as President of World
Taekwondo Federation and national lawmaker.
Kim has been questioned by South Korean prosecutors about allegations
he collected illicit money from former South Korean Olympic officials
and embezzled funds from taekwondo organizations.
On Friday, Kim said he was quitting as head of the World Taekwondo
Federation, which he has headed for three decades, his aides said.
"I made this decision while feeling a heavy sense of responsibility
for causing controversy in connection with my sports diplomacy," he
said, reading a prepared statement.
Kim also have up two posts he held in South Korea: national lawmaker
affiliated with the opposition Democratic Millennium Party, and head
of the World Taekwondo Headquarters, a Seoul-based institute that
issues taekwondo credentials.
"While doing this, I sometimes got careless, and I admit that I did
things wrong," he said. "I bow my head and offer my deep apologies."
He wiped tears from his eyes, and stepped aside from the podium and
bowed deeply.
Last month, South Korean prosecutors raided Kim's house and offices,
seizing a private safe and documents. Prosecutors suspect Kim of
embezzling funds from the World Taekwondo Federation and the World
Taekwondo Headquarters. He also faces allegations that he received
money in return for helping two men become members of the Korean
Olympic Committee.
Taekwondo Federation and national lawmaker.
Kim has been questioned by South Korean prosecutors about allegations
he collected illicit money from former South Korean Olympic officials
and embezzled funds from taekwondo organizations.
On Friday, Kim said he was quitting as head of the World Taekwondo
Federation, which he has headed for three decades, his aides said.
"I made this decision while feeling a heavy sense of responsibility
for causing controversy in connection with my sports diplomacy," he
said, reading a prepared statement.
Kim also have up two posts he held in South Korea: national lawmaker
affiliated with the opposition Democratic Millennium Party, and head
of the World Taekwondo Headquarters, a Seoul-based institute that
issues taekwondo credentials.
"While doing this, I sometimes got careless, and I admit that I did
things wrong," he said. "I bow my head and offer my deep apologies."
He wiped tears from his eyes, and stepped aside from the podium and
bowed deeply.
Last month, South Korean prosecutors raided Kim's house and offices,
seizing a private safe and documents. Prosecutors suspect Kim of
embezzling funds from the World Taekwondo Federation and the World
Taekwondo Headquarters. He also faces allegations that he received
money in return for helping two men become members of the Korean
Olympic Committee.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
MTA TO BANK ON LOCAL COACHES
From TheStar.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA) have decided not to renew the contract of their foreign coach, Yu Myung-wan.
The South Korean, a former champion in the World University Games, was roped in early this year to help prepare the exponents for the recent Vietnam SEA Games and also qualification to next year’s Athens Olympics.
But the national exponents did not fare well in the world qualifiers for the Olympics, which was held in Paris just before the SEA Games.
At the Games in Ho Chi Minh City, Malaysian taekwondo suffered a big blow to their pride. The saving grace was provided by Lim Yit Ming, who unexpectedly won the men’s flyweight gold medal on the final day of competition.
The MTA’s coaching chairman, Ben Wong, said that Myung-wan would leave for home soon.
“We did not do well with the input of foreign expertise. We have decided to give the local coaches full control from next year,” he said.
He added that R. Dhanaraj would remain as the chief coach and the MTA would hold a discussion with the National Sports Council (NSC) next month on plans to rope in more assistant coaches for the national team.
“We have yet to discuss with the NSC on the programmes and budget for next year. We intend to have a bigger squad and we will need more coaches,” said Ben.
The MTA coaching board also decided to drop men’s featherweight exponent Syed Taufiq from the Asian qualifiers for the Olympics, which will be held in Bangkok from Feb 15-17.
“We are not happy with his performance in the SEA Games. He was supposed to deliver a medal but lost in the early rounds,” said Ben.
Those who will shoulder the Malaysian challenge for the Asian Zone qualifiers are Yit Ming and women exponents Lee Wan Yuen (heavyweight) and Elaine Teo (bantamweight). The Asian qualifiers will be the last chance for them to win places in the Olympics. Only the top two in the respective categories will get to go to Athens.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA) have decided not to renew the contract of their foreign coach, Yu Myung-wan.
The South Korean, a former champion in the World University Games, was roped in early this year to help prepare the exponents for the recent Vietnam SEA Games and also qualification to next year’s Athens Olympics.
But the national exponents did not fare well in the world qualifiers for the Olympics, which was held in Paris just before the SEA Games.
At the Games in Ho Chi Minh City, Malaysian taekwondo suffered a big blow to their pride. The saving grace was provided by Lim Yit Ming, who unexpectedly won the men’s flyweight gold medal on the final day of competition.
The MTA’s coaching chairman, Ben Wong, said that Myung-wan would leave for home soon.
“We did not do well with the input of foreign expertise. We have decided to give the local coaches full control from next year,” he said.
He added that R. Dhanaraj would remain as the chief coach and the MTA would hold a discussion with the National Sports Council (NSC) next month on plans to rope in more assistant coaches for the national team.
“We have yet to discuss with the NSC on the programmes and budget for next year. We intend to have a bigger squad and we will need more coaches,” said Ben.
The MTA coaching board also decided to drop men’s featherweight exponent Syed Taufiq from the Asian qualifiers for the Olympics, which will be held in Bangkok from Feb 15-17.
“We are not happy with his performance in the SEA Games. He was supposed to deliver a medal but lost in the early rounds,” said Ben.
Those who will shoulder the Malaysian challenge for the Asian Zone qualifiers are Yit Ming and women exponents Lee Wan Yuen (heavyweight) and Elaine Teo (bantamweight). The Asian qualifiers will be the last chance for them to win places in the Olympics. Only the top two in the respective categories will get to go to Athens.
Monday, January 05, 2004
Happy New Year 2004
Happy New Year to all visitors. This is another year that all Taekwondo fans around the world should pay special attention to their art. Yes..this year is another Olympic year and the venue will be where it all began:Athens, Greece... So, if you want to watch the events, make sure that you book your ticket early because the population of Taekwondo in Europe is growing very fast, therefore you might lost your chance to watch the world greatest events if you're late. I'll post the update about the game, so check it out regularly.. thanks..
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