c. k. han was born on 20 july 1934 in seoul, korea. he trained under three martial art masters: tae hi nam, duk sung son, and woon kyu um. han was the first of the original masters of taekwondo to demonstrate overseas, participating in the march 1959 tour of taiwan and vietnam. following a career in the south korean military, he emigrated to the united states of america in 1971, settling in chicago. han founded his own organisation, the universal tae kwon do federation, around 1980. he continued teaching taekwondo until his death in 1996.