Korean Cultural Centre, India is co-hosting All India Inter SAI Taekwondo Championship with Sports Authority of India under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of India and Korea National Sport University in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Korea-India diplomatic relations in 2023.

This time All-India Taekwondo Championship as a sports exchange event between the two countries will be held for three days from 24th February (Friday) to 26th February (Sunday) at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Wrestling Hall, Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. This championship has been planned to commemorate the 50th year of diplomatic ties between Korea and India and to revitalize Taekwondo that has been stagnant since the pandemic, and to lay the foundation for the future as a major sports event between the two countries.

The opening ceremony which will be held at 10:30 am on 24th February and will be attended by Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur, Korean Ambassador to India Chang Jae Bok, Deputy Minister & Ambassador for Public Diplomacy of Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lee Sang Hwa, and Korea National Sport University Chancellor Ahn Yong Kyu as chief guests. The ceremony will consist of MOU signing in the field of sports exchange between the two countries and special performances, Korean dance (traditional, modern, practical), Taekwondo demonstration, and K-pop cover dance by performance teams from Korea National Sport University.

The three-day Taekwondo Championship event will be competed in two parts: Poomsae and Sparring called Kyorugi. The sparring, Kyorugi division is divided according to the competition rules of the World Taekwondo Federation in players` age and weight and Poomsae division will be divided into men's and women's divisions only. Only elite Taekwondo players registered in 79 regional centers and regional training centers of Sports Authority of India will participate in the sparring category, and the Poomsae category is open to the public, anyone with a Kukkiwon-certified Taekwondo dan certificate can participate. The 10 Kyorugi and 2 Poomsae winners, who will win gold medals in each category, will visit Korea National Sport University with the support of Korean government and receive an education and training program for about 3 weeks from the best professors as prize.

After the opening ceremony of All India Taekwondo Tournament event on 24thFebruary, another MOU signing ceremony between Korea National Sport University and Miranda House, University of Delhi and special performances by Korea National Sport University will follow at Miranda House auditorium. Korea government marks University of Delhi as the best and largest university in India which has a total of 91 colleges and Miranda House has been selected as the best and representative college in India based on the evaluation of the Ministry of Education of India five times in a row from 2017 to 2021, the last year. As the first project based on the MOU between two national representative higher educational institutes, dispatched professor from Korea National Sport University will hold Taekwondo professional theory and practice classes at Miranda House from the first half of this year.

Hwang Il Yong, director of Korean Cultural Centre India said, “This Taekwondo Championship event and the signing of an MOU between universities representing the two countries are expected to be a significant milestone in sports exchanges between Korea and India. Starting with the selection of Taekwondo as a course at Miranda House as the heart of Indian top intellectual and woman and education, it is hoped that the subject of Taekwondo will gradually spread throughout the educational sector in India as a regular subject and course.”

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NB/SK/UD