Academic Taekwondo ®

The World Taekwondo Academy, Kukkiwon

World Taekwondo Headquarters

The World Taekwondo Academy, Kukkiwon conducts Dan promotion tests and issues black belt Dan certificates to Taekwondo practitioners through member national associations of the WTF. Contestants to participate in international Taekwondo competitions sponsored or approved by the WTF should hold Kukkiwon Dan certificates. Kukkiwon Dan holders are estimated at 4.2 million persons all over the world as of the end of 1998.

The Kukkiwon was constructed on top of the hillside in Kangnam District in Seoul to house Taekwondo related organizations and to provide Taekwondo practitioners and contestants with modern facilities for the training and competitions of Taekwondo.

This million dollar project began on November 9, 1971 and ended on November 30, 1972. It was the first and only gymnasium of its kind in the world. The completion of the Kukkiwon was possible by the sole and devoted effort of Dr. Un Yong KIM, President of the WTF and then President of the Korea Taekwondo Association. The Kukkiwon register-ed with the government of the Republic of Korea as a juridical foundation on July 7, 1974, electing Dr. KIM as its president.

          The Kukkiwon provided an ideal arena for training and competitions such as the 1st and the 2nd World Taekwondo Championships and the 1st Asian Taekwondo Champion-ships as well as the 1st and the 2nd International Referee Seminars, Instructor Seminars and various Taekwondo demonstrations.

   The Kukkiwon was the bridgehead to promote Taekwondo as an international sport, now having made it an official sport of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games after participation in Seoul and Barcelona Olympic Games twice as a demonstration sport. It is also involved in technical development and  researches   of   Taekwondo,

 collection of related materials, public relations and publications, and training of coaches and students.

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The 1st Foreign Instructor Qualification Course

The World Taekwondo Academy, Kukkiwon

  The World Taekwondo Academy conducts educational programs. It has brought up about 16,000 Taekwondo instructors through Instructor Seminars. Korean Taekwondo practitioners holding Kukkiwon 4th Dan or higher may attend the seminar.    

The Academy is also entrusted to conduct two instructor courses by the Korean Ministry of Culture and Sports. One is the course for 2nd class coaches and the other is the one for 3rd class instructors of sports  for  all.   Nearly 5,400 persons  have  become  instructors  and  coaches registered with the Korean Ministry of Culture and Sports through these courses.

International Master Instructor's Licensing at the World Taekwondo Academy, Kukkiwon in Seoul, Korea.

(Master Marika Powell tests for her Master Instructor License in 1998.

The Academy started education programs for over-seas Taekwondo coaches and Black Belts in 1994, and added and International Instructors course in 1998.

 Only a small number of selected practitioners (non-Koreans) can participate in these programs.  In 1998  fewer than 20 Americans (93 non-Koreans, from 32 countries) were issued an  International Instructors Licenses by the Academy.

View snapshots from the 1st International Master Instructor Certification event at the Kukkiwon Taekwondo Headquarters.

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