Choi Hong-hi

Choi Hong-hi was born in 1918 and died on 15 June 2002 in Pyongyang.^[1][4] The ITF gives his birthday as 9 November by the lunar calendar, which is 22 December in the Western calendar.^[4] He was an officer in the Korean army, co-founded the Oh Do Kwan with Nam Tae-hi, and founded the International Taekwon-Do Federation on 22 March 1966.^[1][3]

Naming Taekwon-Do #

His organization named the art Taekwon-Do on 11 April 1955.^[1] The ITF says he conceived the term in the autumn and winter of 1954.^[4] The ITF calls him "the Father of Taekwon-Do" and says he convened the 1955 board that approved the name.^[2] Other sources give different dates and a different distribution of credit (see History of Taekwondo). The title "Father of Taekwon-Do" is the ITF's own description. A Korean newspaper account says he opened the Oh Do Kwan in 1952, still under the name Tang Soo Do, and that President Syngman Rhee officially approved the name Taekwondo in 1955.^[5]

Exile #

In 1972 he went into exile in Canada after the South Korean government refused to let his organization teach Taekwondo in North Korea.^[1] After the ITF's headquarters moved to Vienna, he led it until his death in 2002; the federation then divided into separate groups.^[3]