andyjeffries
Senior Master
I wouldn't message World Taekwondo, they are nothing to do with it. World Taekwondo has national associations as members only, not dojangs and not individual instructors. They are the sports organisation responsible for setting rules, organising competitions and referees. They're nothing to do with the martial arts side.I agree with everything D Hall said, plus I would recommend you on the topic "certification/ watchdog organization or agency" to try a contact directly with World Taekowndo and ask a confirmation about Song Kyu Lee ranks.
If I were you I would send an e-mail to [email protected] or any other available on this page: World Taekwondo
I know on their site they say "Acquired 8th grade of Tae Kwon Do Black Belt on April 5, 2015 from the World Taekwondo Federation, South Korea" but in reality he didn't - Kukkiwon is the organisation responsible for black belt certification, saying it came from WTF is just marketing license as people know "World Taekwondo" but less know "Kukkiwon".
If you have his country (likely Korea or USA) and can find his DOB, you can search for his dan rank at K.M.S Unifying the world with Taekwondo We are the KUKKIWON family however you have to be VERY accurate on how the name is written.
To get a personal certification of this organization costs so much
Kukkiwon 8th Dan fee is US$275. Not that much really (given that he'll have had at least 7 years from his last grading to save up that amount of money).
so I would expect them to keep a record of the members and at least have a quick way to assert if someone is a member or not.
He's DEFINITELY not a member of World Taekwondo. 200% for sure, unless he's "USA Taekwondo". As above, they only accept one organisation per country as their official member.
Kukkiwon definitely will have a record of the promotion, all their records are searchable online by anyway (although the form is AWFUL and the search needs work to make it more friendly).