Derek Corrigan, the mayor of Burnaby, visited Kukkiwon in Seoul, and delivered news of the estasblishment of ‘Taekwondo Kukkiwon Day’ to Jung Man-sun, the head of Kukkiwon. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The city of Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, Canada, has decided to celebrate August 8 every year as ‘Taekwondo Kukkiwon Day’.
Derek Corrigan, the mayor of Burnaby, visited Kukkiwon in Seoul, and delivered news of the estasblishment of ‘Taekwondo Kukkiwon Day’ to Jung Man-sun, the head of Kukkiwon.
Burnaby decided to celebrate Taekwondo Kukkiwon Day after seeing the Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration team at a ‘Korean culture day’ event. They sympathized with the intentions of Kukkiwon to let the world know about the excellence of Taekwondo, and decided to set a day to celebrate it.
The date, August 8, was derived from 1988, which was the year the Seoul Olympics were held. Taekwondo was selected as a demonstration sport then.
Taekwondo Day, designated by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) is September 4. It was established to celebrate the adoption of Taekwondo as a regular sport at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
To express their gratitude, the Kukkiwon presented Mayor Corrigan with an honorary black belt, while the head of the Taekwondo Federation of British Colombia received an award certificate.
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
