Sport in South Korea
Taekwondo, a popular martial sport is often claimed to have historical origins on the Korean peninsula with origins said to have been traced as far back as the 1st century BCE. However, such historical claims are difficult to empirically verify and separate from the influences of neighboring counties. The sport rose to prominence following the end of Japanese occupation with the end of WWII. Formalized rules were established in 1961 and in 1988 the sport became an Olympic event. The name "Taekwondo" literally means "way of foot and fist", although the modern emphasis lies on the kicks. This may be a way to help legitimize the sport's connection to the traditional practice called Taekkyeon, which originated in Korea during the Goguryeo period in the 4th century. Taekkyeon uses open hands and the feet, where as the use of clenched fists is not permitted. The motions are smoother and more curvilinear than in Taekwondo. Although both disciplines start with the sound "tae" in English, there is no relationship.
Yeon Hwan Park
Park trained in his native Korea from early childhood. He attended Korea University and served in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps before being dispatched by the South Korean government as an emissary to Africa, where he began teaching taekwondo in Lesotho. In 1980 he settled in the United States, where he established himself as a prominent figure in taekwondo instruction. While worldwide study of the martial arts increased in popularity in the early 1970s, due in part to work of Bruce Lee, taekwondo was still largely unknown outside of Korea. In 1983 Park established the goal of increasing the popularity of the sport in a concerted movement towards having taekwondo become recognized as an official Olympic Sport. In response to the work of Park and other taekwondo leaders the International Olympic Committee granted the sport Demonstration Sport status in the 1988 and 1992 games and as a full medal sport, commencing with the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia.