Choi Jung-hwa returning to South Korea (USA Today)

[TrueJim]

You've probably seen this old article in USA Today:

Taekwondo master returns home to South Korea - USATODAY.com
...

"Choi [Jung-hwa], 54, played a leading role in promoting taekwondo in the North together with his father Choi Hong-hi, who founded the now pro-Pyongyang, Vienna-based International Taekwondo Federation in 1966."
...

"Choi's father died of a cancer in 2002 and Pyongyang named a North Korean to head the ITF. An angry Choi [Jung-hwa] established another taekwondo body in Canada, claiming it was the sole legitimate ITF."

---

I guess I don't understand how the ITF split into three pieces as well as I thought I did. Does USA Today have this sequence of events correct?

 

[chrispillertkd]

I'm having trouble reading the web site for some reason (it's not being cooperative with my browser) but what I can say is that the time line you have quoted is mostly correct but not completely.

In 2001 GM Choi, Jung Hwa was elected as the new President of the ITF but he wasn't supposed to take office for two years, in which time Gen. Choi would continue to serve as President. The ITF has 6 year terms for its President so Gen. Choi would have been in office for 2 years and GM Choi would have filled the next 4 years. While this situation is not stipulated in the ITF constitution the ITF legal representative who was present at the Congress said it was legal.

Shortly after his election GM Choi told the NK representatives that they would not wield any undue influence on the ITF, although they were welcome to be a member country.

This caused quite a bit of consternation among the NK's who complained to Gen. Choi who viewed his relationship with the DPRK as a political tool to try to leverage reunion between the two parts of the Korean peninsula. The DPRK also was the source of monetary funding for the ITF. In both cases, Gen. Choi would have been under immense political pressure from the NK's.

Gen. Choi assembled an "emergency Congress" to expel GM Choi shortly thereafter. When GM Choi showed up he was blocked from entry to the meeting and one of the ITF executives who was present said it was a private meeting, as opposed to a Congress (which means that none of the decisions reached should have been binding).

The ITF issued a statement saying that GM Choi, and several other people, had been expelled the private meeting in question really having been a Congress.

GM Choi acting as "acting President" moved the ITF headquarters back to Canada or sets up his own organization depending on your point of view.

Gen. Choi leaves for NK in June of 2002 and passes away shortly thereafter. He and GM Choi reconcile as father and son at the airport before he leaves.

The NK's hold a 100 day memorial service for Gen. Choi in the DPRK. "Coincidentally" they decide to have a Congress meeting to elect a new ITF president. They introduce a NK government official and when the people who are at the memorial service clap for him the NK's declare he's been elected president! (No, I am not making that up.)

Several of the "delegates" upon returning to their home countries are, perhaps unsurprisingly, not pleased with how events unfolded with a private meeting being turned into a Congress when it didn't suit them and decide that they will follow the ITF constitution which states that the ITF senior VP becomes interim President upon the death of the ITF president.

There is general chaos between the NK-headed group and the split off group.

The new third group elects yet another president at their next World Championships circa 2003, IIRC.

That is, basically, where things stand now. GM Choi, Jung Hwa is president of one group; the second group is headed by a different North Korean as the one who was elected at the 100 day memorial has since retired (Interestingly, I was assured by a VERY senior member of that group that there was no way a North Korean would be elected again as the membership wouldn't stand for it. Oops.); the third group is headed by a different GM after their first president died a few years ago.

GM Choi has been to South Korea several times and has a national organization with several schools there. The article you linked to is 8 years old and he has no problems with the ROK government.

There is more to it, of course, and I'm sure I don't know half of what was going on behind the scenes (nor do I particularly want to) but that is, basically, how the series of events unfolded. Clear as mud?

Pax,

Chris

 

[Earl Weiss]

My perspective, as one of the three members of the ITF Legal Council at the time.

When I was in Rimini, reports immediately after the Congress was that their was a motion for the Son to serve as President If General Choi stepped down after 2 years. At the opening ceremony I noticed General Choi and his son not both sitting in the VIP box and asked about this. Someone who was at the congress said that following the motion the son, publicly asked the father to commit that he would step down after 2 years. There was no response . the legal council called for a recess so the son and father could talk privately. The recess began and they headed in opposite directions.

At the Special congress in Vienna the chair refused to recognize the son's delegation as the authorized representatives from their respective countries and recognized other representatives from those countries. As far as I know the chair had this authority, and there were not good guidlelines to determine how this was done. This is the first I have ever heard of the "Private meeting " claim.

So, as I see it. we have:

Original group, then Son splits in Jan 2002 outside Special Congress , and then NK Splits in NK following attempted coup they call a Special congress which they magicaly transformed the memorial service into.

 

[chrispillertkd]

Master Weiss, Damien LaVoice was st the meeting in Vienna with GM Choi and posted either in the old comdo site or in the old yahoogroup about the Congress being called a private meeting by, if I recall correctly, then-Master McCallum.

Pax,

Chris

 

[Earl Weiss]

Master Weiss, Damien LaVoice was st the meeting in Vienna with GM Choi and posted either in the old comdo site or in the old yahoogroup about the Congress being called a private meeting by, if I recall correctly, then-Master McCallum.

Pax,

Chris

It's kind of an esoteric exercise in Semantics now. I wasn't there and did not hear what he said or how he said it. However, in effect a congress could be termed "Private" in that only authorized people / recognize representatives are allowed to attend. I do not know of any constitutional clause or By Law then in effect which required a congress to be open to the Public.

So, based upon the initial post I took "Private meeting" to be something as an alternative to the Congress. As a plaque holder I received advance notice that the congress was to be held at this time and place as required by the constitution and as opposed to what happened in NK.

 

[chrispillertkd]

Master Weiss, I don't doubt for one minute that they were telling GM Choi that in order to block his access to the meeting.

Pax,

Chris

 

[Earl Weiss]

Master Weiss, I don't doubt for one minute that they were telling GM Choi that in order to block his access to the meeting.

Pax,

Chris

Agreed

 

[TrueJim]

Super informative. Thank you guys!

 

[TrueJim]

If you don't mind, some follow-up questions:

• The North Korean official who was originally nominated by North Korea as their ITF president: Was that Chang Ung?
• When the "original" ITF elected their new president at the World Championship in 2003: Was that Trần Triệu Quân?

So if I have this right:

• Choi Hong Hi was (of course) original ITF president up until his death
• Choi Jung Hwa relocates "his" ITF headquarters to back to Toronto in...I guess 2001?
• North Korea promotes Chang Ung as "their" ITF president (with headquarters to still be in Vienna?) in 2002
• The "original" ITF elects Trần Triệu Quân in 2003. (From the looks of their website, this ITF is headquartered in Spain?) Their current president is Pablo Trajtenberg I think.

Do I have that right?

 

[TrueJim]

Oh, also...what was the name of the "original" ITF vice president who served as interim president up until the election of the new president at the World Championship in 2003?

 

[chrispillertkd]

If you don't mind, some follow-up questions:

• The North Korean official who was originally nominated by North Korea as their ITF president: Was that Chang Ung?

Yes. The current President of the NK-led ITF is a gentleman named Master Ri, Yong Son.

When the "original" ITF elected their new president at the World Championship in 2003: Was that Trần Triệu Quân?

Yes. Master Tran was killed in the massive earthquake that hit Haiti some years ago. The current President of that group is GM Pablo Trajtenberg.

So if I have this right:

• Choi Hong Hi was (of course) original ITF president up until his death
• Choi Jung Hwa relocates "his" ITF headquarters to back to Toronto in...I guess 2001?
• North Korea promotes Chang Ung as "their" ITF president (with headquarters to still be in Vienna?) in 2002
• The "original" ITF elects Trần Triệu Quân in 2003. (From the looks of their website, this ITF is headquartered in Spain?) Their current president is Pablo Trajtenberg I think.

Do I have that right?

Essentially, yes. The NK-led group and the group currently under GM Trajtenberg were in litigation over who owned the ITF HQ in Vienna and the courts ruled in favor of the NK's, hence the relocation of the other group to Spain. I am unsure, however, whether or not the lawsuit was litigation only over who owned the building in Vienna or if it was to determine which group had a legal claim as being "the" ITF.

Pax,

Chris

 

[chrispillertkd]

Oh, also...what was the name of the "original" ITF vice president who served as interim president up until the election of the new president at the World Championship in 2003?

That was Mr. Russell MacLellan, who was the ITF Senior VP at the time, as well as a member of the Canadian Parliament.

Pax,

Chris

 

[TrueJim]

I think I sort-of understood some of this before, but this has made things SO much clearer. Thank you.

My next question goes off on a tangent. I wonder why - back when the WTF and the ITF negotiated the Protocol of Accord back in 2014 -- allowing competitors to compete in each other's tournaments -- why did the WTF negotiate with the Chang Ung ITF rather than one of the other two ITFs? If anything, you'd think that would be the ITF they'd be LEAST likely to negotiate with.

 

[chrispillertkd]

If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's because Chang Ung is a member of the IOC and so already has a relationship with the WTF as well as the fact that a NK government official would be in a position to help with agreements between the DPRK and the ROK if and when they are needed.

I would point out that there have been at least a few instances where GM Choi, Jung Hwa has met with officials from both the WTF and Kukkiwon when he has visited South Korea in the last few years. It seems to me, however, that the NK-led group is much more interested in getting some sort of official working relationship with the WTF than GM Choi, whose actions seem to be more geared towards generating good will between the parties rather than an official "union."

I do not know what, if any, interaction GM Trajtenberg's group has had with the WTF and/or KKW.

Pax,

Chris

 

[Earl Weiss]

If you don't mind, some follow-up questions:

So if I have this right:

• Choi Hong Hi was (of course) original ITF president up until his death
• Choi Jung Hwa relocates "his" ITF headquarters to back to Toronto in...I guess 2001?
• North Korea promotes Chang Ung as "their" ITF president (with headquarters to still be in Vienna?) in 2002
• The "original" ITF elects Trần Triệu Quân in 2003. (From the looks of their website, this ITF is headquartered in Spain?) Their current president is Pablo Trajtenberg I think.

Do I have that right?

Well, your points above, the First and last seemingly refer to "original" but the Presidents were for 2 different groups.