Chapter 15: Modern Taekwondo

At least four Japanese martial arts remained popular in Korea after liberation, albeit under their Koreanized names. Koreans continued to study Yudo (Judo), Komdo (Kendo), Yusul (Jujutsu), and Kongsudo (karate-do). The Korean Yudo Association was founded in October of 1945 by Mum-Suk Lee and Jin-Hee Han, and the Korean Komdo Association (K.K.A.) was organized in Seoul in 1948. The K.K.A. became affiliated with the Korean Amateur Sports Association on Nov. 20, 1953, and in the same year the Korean Yudo College was founded with Dr. Je-Hwang Lee as its first president. Both Yudo and Komdo remained virtually unchanged from their Japanese namesakes. On the other hand, the arts of Yusul and Kongsudo have changed greatly since Korean liberation. Yusul developed into Hapkido and all of its derivatives (Kuksul, Hwarang-do, etc.), while Kongsudo would eventually go through the greatest changes of all, developing into Tangsoodo and Taekwondo.

The various kwans ("schools") of Kongsudo retained much of the style of karate-do for many years, including the various kata or forms of Karate-do. Many Tangsoodo schools today still retain the forms of Karate-do. As late as 1965, Hong-Hi Choi was still teaching Shorin-ryu and Shorei-ryu forms (including Heian 1-5, Empi, Rohai, Bassai, Kusanku, Jion, Tekki 1-3, Hangetsu, and Jitte) along with his own forms, called the Ch'ang Hon set. In 1968, Sihak Henry Cho asserted "Taekwondo is identical to Japanese karate." Cho also noted "some of the Korean public still use the 'karate' pronunciation in conversation."

Syngman Rhee (1875-1965) was a very nationalistic Korean who went to the United States in 1904 and became the first Korean to obtain a Ph.D. from an American university. After returning to Korea, he found he could not work under the Japanese occupation, so he returned to the United States in 1912. Seven years later, he was elected in China as President of the Korean Provisional Government in exile and he held this position for the next twenty years. During WW II, he remained in the United States where he established his reputation with the Americans.