Preparations for the 2nd WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships slated for Nov. 4-6, 2007, in Incheon, Korea are going smoothly, organizers say.

“As of Oct. 26, a total of 46 countries confirmed their participation in the 2nd WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships,” said Jin-bang Yang, acting secretary general of the Korea Taekwondo Association on Oct. 26.

Mr. Yang expected that about 500 athletes and officials will attend the three-day event, which will take place at the Samsan Gymnasium in Incheon, west of Seoul. The event is promoted by the WTF and organized by the KRA.

“Given a series of continental Olympic taekwondo qualification tournaments, the number of participating countries this time will be fewer than last year’s inaugural event,” Mr. Yang said. The 1st WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships drew 584 athletes and officials from 57 countries.

The African Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is scheduled for Nov. 1-3 in Tripoli, Libya. The qualifier has attracted 88 athletes from 28 African countries. Through the African qualifier, the top two athletes from each of the eight Olympic categories will qualify their national Olympic committees a place in the respective event.

“As part of our efforts to further promote taekwondo poomsae worldwide, we decided to field our athletes only to 13 out of a total of 16 categories,” Mr. Yang said. Korea swept all the 16 titles at the 1st event.

The opening ceremony of the 2nd Poomsae Championships is scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. on Nov. 4 at the Samsan Gymnasium. The event will be broadcast live by KBS-N, reflecting the media's great concern of the Poomsae Championships.

The WTF launched the Poomsae Championships last year as part of its efforts to further expand the global base of taekwondo population.

The Poomsae Championships take place shortly after the 3rd Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships, which are scheduled for Nov. 1-3 at the same venue in Incheon.

The annual Korea Open, which is organized by the KTA, is expected to draw about 380 athletes and officials from 32 countries. The opening ceremony of the Korea Open is slated to take place at 5 p.m. on Nov. 1 at the venue.

The WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament concluded in a resounding success in Manchester, the United Kingdom on Sept. 30, 2007. No protest was lodged during the three-day event, for the first time ever in the WTF's 34-year history.

Korea earned a full four berths for the taekwondo competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after three days of the WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament.

France, Cuba, Canada, Italy and Chinese Taipei clinched two places each for the Beijing Olympic Games through the World Qualification Tournament, which took place at the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena in downtown Manchester. The tournament drew 328 players from 104 countries, with the attendance of 54 international referees from 41 countries.

Ten other countries won one ticket each for the 2008 Olympic Games. They are the United States, Great Britain, Germany, the Philippines, Australia, Mali, Croatia, Greece, Mexico and Thailand.

The final day of the Manchester qualification tournament featured two weight categories of the men’s -80kg and the women’s -57kg.

In the men’s -80kg category, Canada’s Sebastien Michaud placed first, while the United States’ Steven Lopez and Italy’s Mauro Sarmiento placed second and third, respectively, earning their countries a berth each for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

In the women’s -57kg division, Korea’s Lim Su-jeong placed first, while Italy’s Veronica Calabrese and Thailand’s Premwaew Chonnapas placed second and third, respectively.

A total of 128 athletes are to compete in the taekwondo competition of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Through the World Qualification Tournament, the top three athletes from each of the eight Olympic weight categories, totaling 24, qualify their national Olympic committees a place in the respective event.

Through the WTF’s five continental qualifications, a total of 96 places, comprising of 48 men’s and 48 women’s places, will be allocated. Asia, Europe and Pan America will be allocated 24 places each in the same competition format. Africa and Oceania will have 16 and eight places, respectively.

The immediate continental qualification is the African Taekwondo Qualification Tournament scheduled for Nov. 1-3 this year in Tripoli, Libya, followed by the Asian qualification Nov. 28-30 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The Oceania qualification is slated for Dec. 1 in New Caledonia; the Pan-American qualification on Dec. 8-9 in Cali, Colombia; and the European qualification on Jan. 26-27, next year in Istanbul, Turkey.

The World Taekwondo Federation held its Council meeting in Manchester, the United Kingdom, on Sept. 27, a day before the opening of the WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament.

The World Qualification Tournament opend on Sept. 28 for a three-day run at

the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena in downtown Manchester. The tournament drew about 340 athletes from 104 countries.

At the WTF Council meeting, the participants approved two African countries Uganda and Gambia as the WTF’s new members, thus raising the total number of the WTF membership to 186.

WTF President Chungwon Choue reported to the Council members about a plan to establish continental Taekwondo training centers to further promote the Olympic sport of Taekwondo.

Dr. Choue also mentioned about the technical matters concerning the Taekwondo competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

The Council decided to deal with proposed amendments to the WTF Rules and Regulations and the Standing Procedures for the Taekwondo competitions at the Olympic Games, together with the sudden death round at every match, at next Council meeting after discussions at the Executive Committee meeting in January next year in Seoul.

Mr. Cao Tao, competition manager of Taekwondo at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, presented a progress report to the Council members. He said the organizing committee plans to hold an International Taekwondo Invitational Tournament on Feb. 26-29 next year at the USTB Gymnasium in Beijing.

An international workshop on sports and peace was held at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) in Belgium on Sept. 21, 2007.

Under the topic “Sports and Peace: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the World Peace Through Sports,” the two-day

international workshop drew a dozen of renowned speakers from several countries.

The workshop was jointly organized by Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the Graduate School of Physical Education, Kyung Hee University in Korea, and the International Peace Research Association. It was supported by the World Taekwondo Federation and GCS International.

Among the speakers were Prof. Luc Reychler of KUL, who also serves as secretary general of the International Peace Research Association; Mr. Niels Nygaard, president of the Danish National Olympic Committee; Prof. Ju Ho Chang, president of the Korean Olympic Academy; Prof. Franjo Prot of the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb in Croatia; and Mr. Soren Holmgard Knudsen, president of the Danish Taekwondo Federation.

At the workshop, Chungwon Choue, president of the World Taekwondo Federation, proposed the creation of “Sports Peace Corps” in his speech at the workshop.

“The United Nations and the International Olympic Committee have many fundamental values in common. As set by the UN Charter, the ultimate goal of the UN is to bring forward cooperation of the global community to promote peace and sustainable development,” said WTF President Choue.

“Enhanced partnership and coordination of action of these two organizations can create synergy to strengthen the role of sport in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and promoting peace and development in the world,” he said. “My vision of a comprehensive IOC-UN global collaboration project is the creation of ‘Sport Peace Corps.’”

According to WTF President Choue, the basic mechanism of the “Sport Peace Corps” is “providing comprehensive assistance to the underdeveloped countries or the UN-assigned areas by dispatching a group of volunteers following a period of education and training. And the assistance includes coaching and training service to the local young athletes, supply of equipment and facilities, and finding the means and opportunity for the competent young people to partake in the international sport events such as the Youth Olympic Games that are due to take place in 2010.”

The Sport Peace Corps project aims at utilizing sport as part of education, training and youth program; helping the Olympic Solidarity Movement at the grassroot level by providing equipment, skills for education and training, and coaches for any Olympic sport in the countries in need of assistance; bringing hope and dreams to the young people who are deprived of the opportunity to learn and practice sports.

"I believe that the Sport Peace Corps project is a win-win proposal for both the IOC and the U.N. since the project itself fulfills the fundamental principles of both organizations with an action-oriented scheme," Dr. Choue said.

WTF President Chungwon Choue made a two-week-long tour of four European countries to meet with high-ranking sports and political figures, including Croatian President Stjepan Mesic.

As part of his efforts to promote the Olympic sport of Taekwondo, he traveled to

Bulgaria, Croatia, Belgium and Denmark before coming to Manchester, the United Kingdom for the WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament scheduled for Sept. 28-30, 2007.

During his visit to Sofia, Bulgaria Sept. 15-18, WTF President Choue met with Mrs. Stefka Kostadinova, president of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee; Mr. Ivan Lekov, deputy chairman of the State Agency for Youth and Sports; and Mr. Feim Chaushev, deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Bulgarian NOC president won the silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Silver and the gold medal at the 1006 Atlanta Olympic Games both in high jump.

Mr. Lekov proposed holding a Taekwondo symposium next year in Sofia, to which WTF President Choue made a favorable response.

While in Sofia, Dr. Choue also visited the Sports Museum in downtown Sofia to present a Taekwondo poster to the museum head.

After his four-day visit to Bulgaria, Dr. Choue flew to Zagreb, Croatia on Sept. 19 for a three-day visit.

He met with, among others, Mr. Tomislav Sepec, president of the Zagreb Sports Association; Mrs. Ljiljana Kuhta Jelicic, deputy mayor of the City of Zagreb; Mr. MSci Slobodan Mikac, managing director of the Trade and Investment Promotion Agency of the Republic of Bulgaria; Mr. Dragan Primorac, minister, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports; and Prof. Dinko Vuleta, dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb.

On Sept. 20, WTF President paid a courtesy call to His Majesty Mr. Stjepan Mesic, president of the Republic of Croatia. At the meeting, the Croatian president asked for the WTF’s continued support for the promotion of Taekwondo in Croatia, showing his great interest in the Olympic sport of Taekwondo.

Croatia won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the 2007 WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Beijing, China.

After his meeting with the Croatian president, Dr. Choue met with Mr. Zlatko Matesa, president of the Croatian Olympic Committee, to exchange opinions on how to develop Taekwondo in his country.

WTF President, then, traveled to Belgium on Sept. 20 to attend the inaugural International Workshop on Sport and Peace, which kicked off on Sept. 21 for a two-day run.

At the workshop, Dr. Choue proposed the creation of the so-called “Sport Peace Corps” in coopration among the WTF, the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee.

On Sept. 23, WTF President visited Copenhagen, Denmark for a four-day run.

While in Copenhagen, Dr. Choue met with Mr. Lars Lundov, executive director, Sports Foundation Denmark; Mr. Niels Nygaard, president of National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark; and r. Kai Holm, member of International Olympic Committee, executive member of the European Olympic Committee and president of International Master Games Association.

Dr. Choue also visited the venue of the 2009 WTF World Taekwondo Championships to be briefed on the progress.

Zambia seeks a strong support from the World Taekwondo Federation in helping fight HIV/AIDS in the African country.

“In cooperation with the WTF, we want to promote HIV/AIDS awareness through taekwondo, and if realized, it would be the first sports organization in our country,” said Mr. Chenda K. Chilufya, president of the Zambia Taekwondo Federation, in a recent interview

at the headquarters of the WTF in Seoul.

Mr. Chilufya met with WTF President Chungwon Choue on Oct. 8 at the latter’s office to explain in detail about his HIV/AIDS proposal.

The Zambia Taekwondo Federation, which was set up in 2003 in the city of Kitwe, officially joined the WTF in 2006 as a full member.

He said, “The sport of taekwondo has been very well received by young people in the age group ranging from 14 to 35 years old. Thus it is spreading faster in schools and communities where this age group exists.” “Taekwondo is growing at a fast rate in our country.”

“Taekwondo was established in our country, in some sense, to supplement government efforts in providing sport to the young people as a way of promoting good health, self-defense and curbing idle time among the youth, so as to prevent them from indulging in risk behavior such as beer drinking, smoking, drug abuse, prostitution which may lead to contracting HIV/AIDS,” Mr. Chilufya said.

He said, “This sport is becoming very popular and it is termed as a ‘sport for the new generation.’ Apparently, this is the age group which is more affected by HIV/AIDS.” “The idea now is to use this sport to advocate for behavior change in the youth through competitions and other interventions.”

In Zambia, Mr. Chilufya said, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate was 16.6% of the entire population in 2004, of which 82% are those aged between 18 and 35.

“My conviction is that using sport could be a very effective way of disseminating information to communities and schools because of the manner in which young people value sport,” he said. “Following the popularity of taekwondo and the current growing number of youths being attracted to the Olympic sport of taekwondo, I think taekwondo can be the right sport to fight the pandemic.”

The one-year pilot project targets four community schools – Kamatipa, Ipusukilo, Kamakonde and Mulenga – and nearby areas in Kitwe. “These target areas are highly populated with high incidence of HIV/AIDS cases.”

“Once the pilot project succeeds, which will require a budget of about $36,500, we plan to expand the project to other areas and cities,” Mr. Chilufya said.

He painted a rosy picture of taekwondo in Zambia. “Ten years later, taekwondo will be positioned as the number 2 sport in my country after football.”

Zambia is scheduled to host the All African Games in 2011, and taekwondo is included among the official sports of the sporting event, according to him. “We want to construct a Sport for Hope Center in Zambia, and we ask for financial support from the WTF.”

The World Taekwondo Federation will appoint U.S. legendary thrash metal band Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine as the WTF Goodwill Ambassador in a ceremony in Seoul, Korea, on Oct. 27, 2007.

It will mark the first time for the WTF, the world’s sole taekwondo governing body recognized by the International Olympic

Committee, to appoint its Goodwill Ambassador.

The four-member Megadeth band, which is now on a Pacific Rim concert tour, is to arrive in Seoul in the afternoon of Oct. 27 for its concert at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 at the Olympic Hall of Olympic Park in Seoul. For Megadeth, it will be their fourth concert for Korean fans this time, following its performances in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

The conferment ceremony for Megadeth will take place around 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at the Grand InterContinental Hotel in downtown Seoul.

On behalf of WTF President Chungwon Choue, who is now abroad, WTF Secretary General Jin Suk Yang will present Megadeth leader Mustaine with a certificate of appointment as the WTF “Goodwill Ambassador of the World” and an honorary WTF 4th Dan certificate, as well as a taekwondo uniform and a black belt.

The other three Megadeth members - bassist James LoMenzo, guitarist Glen Drover and his brother Shawn Drover - will each receive a taekwondo uniform and a black belt during the ceremony.

As a pioneer of the American thrash metal movement, Megadeth rose to international fame in the mid 1980s, but were plagued by constant lineup changes, due partly to Mustaine’s and fellow band members’ notorious substance abuse problems. After finding sobriety and securing a stable lineup, Megadeth went on to release a string of platinum and gold albums between 1986 and 1997.

Medadeth disbanded in 2002 after Mustaine suffered a severe nerve injury to his left arm, but following 17 months of extensive physical therapy and intensive taekwondo training, Mustaine reorganized the band in 2004 before releasing “The System has Failed” and “United Abominations” in 2007, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

Mr. Mustaine, born in 1961 and a taekwondo black belt holder, recently accepted the WTF offer as the WTF Goodwill Ambassador, promising to do his best for the promotion of the Olympic sport of taekwondo.

Concerning taekwondo, he said that taekwondo is “the source of his confidence in his life.”

Medadeth is often mentioned as one of the “Big Four of Thrash” bands, along with Anthrax, Metallica and Slayer.