Kukkiwon Holds Funeral Ceremony for Late First Director Kang Won-sik

Passed away on the 3rd due to a chronic illness

Funeral ceremony of Kang Won-sik, the first director of Kukkiwon.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 5th, Kukkiwon held a funeral ceremony for former Kukkiwon President Kang Won-sik, who passed away on the 3rd, at the Kukkiwon Central Training Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Attending the funeral were Co-Funeral Committee Chairmen Jeon Gap-gil, Chairman of the Kukkiwon Board of Directors, Choi Jung-won, President of the World Taekwondo Federation, Lee Kyu-seok, President of the Asian Taekwondo Union, Yang Jin-bang, President of the Korea Taekwondo Association, Kim Joong-heon, Chairman of the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, and Funeral Executive Chairman Lee Dong-seop, President of Kukkiwon, who all paid their respects to the deceased.

Former President Kang Won-sik was a key figure in the modern history of Taekwondo. He contributed to the unification of Taekwondo organizations in 1978 and led the establishment of Taekwondo Hanmadang (now World Taekwondo Hanmadang) in 1992, greatly advancing the development of Taekwondo.

He founded the Taekwondo Society in 1987 and served as its first president. He also held several important positions including Executive Director of the Korea Taekwondo Association, Executive Member of the Asian Taekwondo Union, Deputy Director of the Taekwondo Instructor Training Center, and Technical Chairman of the World Taekwondo Federation. In 2010, he became the first president of Kukkiwon after its transition to a special corporation, laying the foundation for its renewed growth.

Former President Kang passed away on October 3rd at the age of 85 due to an illness.