Modern history of East Asian martial arts
Taekwondo was developed from karate for use in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces from 1954. For this purpose, karate terminology needed to be "nationalized". The name "taekwondo" is due to shotokan practitioner and army general Choi Hong Hi. After the Korean War, Taekwondo was further developed into a purely sportive discipline, since 1973 overseen by the World Taekwondo Federation. 
During 1964-1966, Choi Hong Hi continued to promote taekwondo, working to put together a world-class exhibition team. Taekwondo's emphasis on jumping and flying kicks dates to this period. While taekwondo was based off karate, the structural changes made in the 1950s and 1960s were significant, and it cannot now be considered a branch of karate, but is a standalone modern martial art. Taekwondo was presented at the Summer Olympics as a demonstration sport in 1988 and 1992, and became an official Olympic discipline in 2000.
Original masters of taekwondo
The group came under the leadership of Choi Hong Hi (1918–2002), inaugural President of the KTA and later founder of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), and Nam Tae Hi (1929–2013), known as the Father of Vietnamese Taekwondo. Many of these men held senior positions in the ITF under Choi, but several left over time. Most of the men settled in North America, while others settled in Europe or Australia.