Our history in dates
From Korean schools to a worldwide federation, and from Ukraine’s first training groups to our international community, these dates bring together the principal events of our history.
Formation and worldwide expansion
Scroll the table horizontally.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1918 | Choi Hong Hi, the future ITF founder, is born in Hwa Dae. |
| 1940s | Postwar Korean kwans develop their teaching programmes. |
| 1946 | Choi becomes an officer and begins teaching martial arts to soldiers. |
| 1953 | Training in the 29th Division connects Choi’s and Nam Tae Hi’s work. |
| 1954 | The team demonstrates before Syngman Rhee; Choi and Nam Tae Hi develop Oh Do Kwan. |
| 11 April 1955 | The name Taekwon-Do is adopted. |
| 1959 | Choi publishes his first manual; the demonstration team visits Vietnam and Taiwan. |
| 1962 | Choi is appointed ambassador to the Federation of Malaya, now part of Malaysia. |
| 16 September 1963 | Malaysia is formed during Choi’s diplomatic posting. |
| 1965 | An international demonstration tour expands the future ITF network. |
| 22 March 1966 | ITF is founded in Seoul by nine associations. |
| 1971 | Park Chung Hee’s third presidential term, repression and a state of emergency deepen political tensions. |
| 1972 | Choi is forced into exile in Canada; ITF headquarters move to Toronto. Kukkiwon opens in Seoul. |
| 28 May 1973 | WTF, later WT, is founded in Seoul. |
| 1974 | The first ITF world championship takes place in Montreal. |
| 1979 | The All Europe Taekwon-Do Federation, AETF, is established. |
| September 1980 | Choi’s demonstration team visits North Korea. |
| 1983 | Work on the fifteen-volume encyclopedia is completed. |
| 1985 | ITF moves its headquarters to Vienna; the encyclopedia is published. |
| 1988 | A condensed single-volume edition of the Taekwon-Do encyclopedia appears. |
Ukraine and international change
Scroll the table horizontally.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1980–1983 | Luis Carvajal teaches in Kharkiv; his students continue developing local schools. |
| 1989 | Valerii Sokol, Vitalii Olin and Yurii Buzhuzhan receive I Dan at an international seminar. |
| 1990 | Ukraine’s federation is established under Ihor Pai; Sumy hosts the first championship. Park Jung Tae founds GTF. |
| July 1991 | Mykolaiv hosts the first Ukrainian Cup. |
| 10–15 September 1992 | Ukraine competes under its national flag at the world championship; Ihor Tarasenko wins bronze. |
| 1993 | Serhii Krasovskyi becomes junior world champion. |
| 1994 | Luhansk hosts the Ukrainian Cup; Albert Dunda wins world bronze. |
| 1995 | Oleksandr Kinakh registers the Volyn federation. |
| 1998 | The First Capital tournament begins in Kharkiv. |
| 2001 | The Rimini congress elects Choi Jung Hwa as the next president; the succession crisis intensifies. |
| 15 June 2002 | General Choi Hong Hi dies. |
| 22 September 2002 | Chang Ung is elected president of the Vienna-based ITF. |
| 13 June 2003 | The Warsaw congress elects Trân Triêu Quân; AETF provides a foundation for the pan-European branch. |
| 2004–2005 | Kateryna Solovey wins European titles, the World Cup and world silver. |
| 19 July 2006 | The All-Ukrainian Taekwon-Do Union, which joined AETF, is registered. |
| 30 October 2007 | The pan-European branch’s ITF is registered in Madrid. |
| 10 December 2016 | The Union, Ukraine’s Global Taekwon-Do Federation and the Chang Hun Taekwondo Federation (ITF) sign a cooperation memorandum. |
| 2019 | The Union has about 3,500 members, 66 coaches and 79 umpires across sixteen regional centres. |
| 2022 | Ukraine earns 61 medals and second place overall at the Koper World Cup. |
| 2023 | Ten gold medals and second place for Ukraine at the Tampere World Championships. |
| 2024 | Ukraine wins the overall standings at the Lublin European Championships with 16 gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze medals. |
| 18 February 2025 | The NGO Taekwon-Do Federation M.F.T. of Ukraine is registered, code 45697090. |
| 2025 | Our Federation is admitted to the international ITF. |
| 1 June 2025 | The Federation has 2,900 members and 84 instructors across 17 regions. |
| 2026 | Three Federation clubs win 35 World Cup medals; Solovey Team is the tournament’s best club. |
Bibliography
Books, documents and other materials used throughout this edition. Online sources were checked on 8 October 2026.
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Alex Gillis. A Killing Art. Russian translation: «Смертельное искусство. Невообразимая история тхэквондо» (2022). ISBN 9785005552396.
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Historical and organisational records of the Taekwon-Do Federation M.F.T. of Ukraine: the Union’s foundation, events of 2025, international admission, membership and work towards unity. Federation updates, 8 October 2026.
Archive of Ukrainian history
Ihor and Vladyslav Semeinikov collected and preserved the Pages of Ukrainian ITF Taekwon-Do History project. This edition also draws on the recollections of Oleksii Povelytsia, Oleksandr Kinakh and Ihor Chekhov published there, and its records of Ukrainian athletes and coaches. Their work forms a foundation of this edition’s detailed Ukrainian chronicle. Original article titles are retained below.
Union archive: events of 2014–2024
News and reports of the All-Ukrainian Taekwon-Do Union, including articles by Hanna Kostenko. Dates in the titles below refer to the events. Archive pages and individual articles were consulted on 8 October 2026.
Recent Federation results
Biographical and political context
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Government of Malaysia — Malaysian history. Consulted 8 October 2026.
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FRUS — assessment of economic development and authoritarian rule in South Korea, 1970
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FRUS — increased presidential control and the national emergency, 10 December 1971
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FRUS — memorandum of 17 October 1972, including Park’s third-term election in 1971