WTF demonstration team performs in Pyongyang in Sept.

WTF demonstration team performs in Pyongyang in Sept.. July. 01, 2017 07:21. by Jong-Seok Lee wing@donga.com.

The taekwondo demonstration team of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) will perform in Pyongyang for the first time in its 44-year history.

The WTF announced on Friday that its taekwondo team will hold a demonstration in Pyongyang during the world championships in September. It is the first time that the WTF performs in Pyongyang since the organization was established in 1973. Kim Un-yong, former vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was the founding member of the WTF.

The South Korea-led WTF demonstration team’s visit to Pyongyang has been made possible through the protocol of accord between the WTF and the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). The two sides signed the protocol in Nanjing, China in 2014 and details of the protocol includes mutual respect and reciprocal visit. The ITF sent its team to the WTF World Taekwondo Championships, which was held from June 24 to 30 and the demonstration team performed four times in Muju, Jeonju, and Seoul.

Detailed schedule and number of members to visit were determined on May 29 when ITF President Ri Yong Son met WTF President Jo Jung-won during his visit to Seoul. The demonstration team will visit Pyongyang for five days from September 16 and take the stage at the Taekwondo Hall in Pyongyang twice.

Thirty-six members of the demonstration team will be sent to Pyongyang and that is the same number of the ITF team who visited Muju.