This is a scene from last year's Foreigner Taekwondo Exhibition Festival on Sept. 23, 2023, at Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) in Seoul's Gangnam-gu District. (Gangnam-gu District)

By Gil Kyuyoung

A competition in Seoul will share the art and spirit of taekwondo.

The capital's Gangnam-gu Office on Sept. 24 announced its hosting of the 2024 Foreigner Taekwondo Exhibition Festival on Sept. 28.

Launched in 2022, the event is jointly hosted by Gangnam-gu, Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) and the Foreigner Taekwondo Cultural Association. About 900 foreign practitioners from some 20 countries will participate including U.S. soldiers stationed in Korea, international students and workers, and multicultural families.

The order of the festival is the poomsae (forms) competition and gyeorugi (sparring) preliminaries in the morning plus the opening ceremony, followed by the main sparring competition in the afternoon and awards ceremony. The competition is divided into student and adult divisions in the five categories of poomsae, gyeorugi, hand blade gyeokpa (breaking), speed kicking and high jump kicks.

Side events include traditional cultural experiences such as making traditional Hahoe masks, spinning tops, making paper pieces for the traditional game ddakji and trying archery.

 
They can also take photos while wearing taekwondo uniforms in front of Kukkiwon and sample traditional drinks such as sikhye (traditional rice punch) and snacks like injeolmi (glutinous rice cake) and dalgona (honeycomb candy).

"We hope that through taekwondo, foreign nationals can experience Korean culture in depth and communicate with one another," Gangnam-gu Mayor Cho Sung Myung said. "Through taekwondo, we will keep offering diverse opportunities to promote traditional Korean culture and global exchange."

gilkyuyoung@korea.kr