In November 1964, President Park Chung-hee held a state visit to West Germany. As the president arrived at the Munich airport, he saw a group of Germans waving the Taegeukgi, the Korean national flag. The Germans had learned about Korea through taekwondo. This caused the president to send a taekwondo demonstration team to Europe, and in October of the following year a demonstration team of five taekwondo athletes was officially sent to tour the continent.

The team first toured five cities in Germany, including Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, and then continued on to Italy, Egypt and Turkey. Germany was the base for taekwondo as it expanded and grew in popularity across Europe. All the taekwondo demonstration teams that travel the world today disseminating information about the traditional martial art are successors to that first team.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Korean taekwondo demonstration team to be sent to Germany, the Berlin Mayor's Cup International Taekwondo Competition has now been held for the first time.

About 600 taekwondo competitors from across Europe, including Germany, Sweden and Denmark, joined the competition this year. The competition is seen to be an opportunity to expand the popularity of taekwondo across Europe.

By Chang Iou-chung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Korean Cultural Center Germany
icchang@korea.kr