Chapter 21: World Taekwondo Federation

General Choi was not included in this meeting. In 1972, before the completion of the Kukkiwon and before the formation of the WTF, General Choi had left Korea and moved his ITF to Canada.

One of the first things Un Yong Kim did as president of the WTF was to dissolve the WTF connection with Choi Hong Hi. Since then, all Taekwondo activities outside of Korea have been coordinated by the WTF, the only official organization recognized by the Korean government as the international regulating body for Taekwondo. Kim was instrumental in changing the direction of Taekwondo in the WTF from a martial art to a martial sport. He is also one of Korea's representatives to the International Olympic Committee.

The World Taekwondo Federation is made up of Taekwondo national governing bodies (NGBs). The Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) is the NGB for Taekwondo in the Republic of Korea. The United States Taekwondo Union (USTU) is the NGB for Taekwondo in the United States. Individuals may be affiliated with the WTF through their NGB, but individuals cannot join the WTF directly.

On January 8, 1977, nine of the largest kwans (Chung-do-kwan, Ji-do-kwan, Moo-duk-kwan, Chang-moo-kwan, Song-moo-kwan, Han-moo-kwan, Oh-do-kwan, Jung-do-kwan, and Kang-duk-won) recognized the Kukkiwon as the sole black belt promotional body for Taekwondo. Before this declaration, most practitioners valued their individual kwan certification more so than "official" certificates issued by the Kukkiwon or the KTA. By recognizing the Kukkiwon's ultimate promotional authority in Korea, the kwan heads voluntarily gave up much of their power and prestige. Also in 1977, the WTF replaced kwan names with serial numbers. The kwan serial numbers are as follows: (1) Song-moo-kwan, (2) Han-moo-kwan, (3) Chang-moo-kwan, (4) Moo-duk-kwan, (5) O-do-kwan, (6) Kang-du-kwan, (7) Jung-do-kwan, (8) Ji-do-kwan, and (9) Chung-do-kwan.