Moving to Canada
In April 1971, Park Chung Hee was re-elected to a third presidential term. South Korea’s economic growth under his rule was accompanied by increasing authoritarian control and political repression. In the autumn of 1971, the regime suppressed student protests and arrested opponents and journalists. On 6 December, Park declared a national emergency, invoking national security to justify further restrictions on civil liberties.
Against this backdrop, Choi Hong Hi’s longstanding conflict with the regime intensified. In 1972, the General was forced to leave South Korea and settled in Canada. ITF headquarters moved to Toronto. It was a turning point: the international organisation was no longer directed from the country where it had been founded, and its president continued his work in exile.
Canada became a home, a base for publishing and a place to meet longstanding students. Maintaining the international network nevertheless remained difficult. Instructors worked in different countries and developed their own schools and national associations. Political confrontation, organisational competition and personal disagreements affected their relationships with the ITF centre.
Seminars, championships and new students
Choi travelled extensively. At seminars he demonstrated movements, corrected execution and explained changes to the programme. Instructors could work with the founder, ask questions and take new knowledge back to their own classes. These meetings kept schools connected across thousands of kilometres.
In 1974, Montreal hosted the first ITF World Championships. Two years after moving to Canada, Choi saw his federation bring athletes together for a world event. Competition complemented the seminars: students of different masters could now meet on the same floor and test their preparation.
The All Europe Taekwon-Do Federation (AETF) was established in 1979. European associations gained a shared centre for cooperation within the international movement. The network Choi had built with his students was developing a stronger organisational foundation.
September 1980: a return to the north
In September 1980, Choi led a demonstration visit to North Korea. Having been born in the north before the peninsula was divided, he attached personal importance to the journey. He linked the spread of Taekwon-Do with his hope for closer relations between Koreans on both sides of the border.
Systematic teaching of his art in North Korea followed the demonstrations. Instructors trained there later joined the ITF’s international work, giving the federation new opportunities to spread Taekwon-Do.
Some longstanding colleagues disagreed with the closer relationship with North Korea. Political ties and the independence of the international federation became sources of dispute. In the divided world of the Cold War, Choi’s decisions affected both his relationships with the masters and the life of their schools.
Vienna, new generations and an early separation
In 1985, the ITF headquarters moved from Toronto to Vienna. Austria’s central European location and neutrality made meetings between representatives of different countries easier. Vienna became the federation’s new administrative centre, while Choi’s personal life and publishing work also remained connected with Canada.
He continued teaching and writing. International seminars brought him into contact with new generations of instructors. Before the 1989 World Cup in Pyongyang, Ukrainians Valerii Sokol, Vitalii Olin and Yurii Buzhuzhan attended a seminar involving Choi and Park Jung Tae. They belonged to the generation of Ukrainian teachers who passed that experience on at home.
As the movement grew, disagreements over its management became sharper. In 1990, Park Jung Tae founded the Global Taekwon-Do Federation (GTF). This separation happened during Choi’s lifetime, twelve years before his death. Park and his students followed their own international path, retaining a shared technical foundation while developing a separate programme. The chapter on the GTF follows that story.