Adidas Store in Australia Says "Japan is the Origin of Taekwondo"... Seok-Jeok Seo to Protest

Australian Adidas Store Introduces Taekwondo's Origin as Japan
'TAEKWONDO', 'JAPAN' Listed
Seo Gyeong-deok: "Will Send Complaint Emails to Headquarters and Store"

A controversy arose when an Adidas store in Australia introduced the birthplace of Taekwondo as Japan. Source=Facebook of Professor Seok-kyung Duk, Sungshin Women's University

An Adidas store located in Australia has sparked controversy by introducing the birthplace of Taekwondo as 'Japan.'

On the 19th, Professor Seo Kyung-deok of the College of Liberal Arts at Sungshin Women's University posted on his social media service (SNS), "A Korean living in Australia reported this to me, and I was quite shocked," attaching a photo taken at the Adidas store. The photo shows the brand's products displayed alongside the words 'TAEKWONDO' and 'JAPAN' written side by side. He explained, "Although the English name of Taekwondo, 'TAEKWONDO,' was spelled correctly, it was labeled as 'JAPAN' instead of 'KOREA.'

He added, "Australians who see this might mistakenly believe that Japan is the birthplace of Taekwondo," and said, "I plan to send protest emails to the brand's headquarters and the Australian store to ensure the issue is corrected properly." He also mentioned, "During the last Paris Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) posted a video related to Taekwondo on its official social media account but introduced it as 'Judo,' which caused a major controversy." He continued, "Thanks to immediate protests from many netizens, it was corrected to 'Taekwondo,' but it did hurt our pride as the origin country." Finally, Professor Seo stated, "I will produce and widely distribute multilingual videos about the history and culture of Taekwondo so that it can be correctly recognized worldwide."

Meanwhile, Professor Seo is renowned as a Korean public relations expert and actively sends protest emails to relevant organizations regarding issues with Japan and China. On the 15th of last month, to commemorate Liberation Day, he donated 10,000 guidebooks to the 'Lee Tae-jun Memorial Hall' located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, together with actress Song Hye-kyo.