Chapter 19: Exportation

In 1963, a Taekwondo demonstration was performed at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. On November 26, 1967, the United States Taekwondo Association was formed.

In 1962-1963, Taekwondo entered Thailand, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. In February 1963, a Taekwondo association was formed in Singapore and groundwork was laid for forming associations in the outer reaches of Brunei. In 1964, Chong Lee introduced Taekwondo into Canada. In 1965, Choi Hong Hi led a goodwill Taekwondo mission to West Germany, Italy, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Singapore. In 1966, Park Jong Soo introduced Taekwondo into the Netherlands. In 1969, General Choi toured Southeast Asia to investigate the preparations of each country for the First Asian Taekwondo Tournament that was held in Hong Kong in September 1969. During a 1972 world tour, General Choi introduced Taekwondo to the heads of state of Bolivia, Dominica, Haiti, and Guatemala.

Taekwondo had developed such reputation for being an effective fighting system that, during the Vietnam War, the South Vietnamese Government requested Taekwondo instructors to train the troops. Vietnam was the first foreign country where Taekwondo was taught on such a large scale. As previously mentioned, President Ngo Din Diem (1901-1963) was greatly impressed with the Taekwondo exhibition in 1959 and requested instructors to teach the Vietnamese military. The first group of Taekwondo instructors was led Major Nam Te Hi who arrived in Vietnam in 1962 on active duty. These instructors taught Taekwondo to the South Vietnamese military units, South Korean troops, and United States Green Berets.