Governing Bodies

World Taekwondo (WT)

Also Known As World Taekwondo Federation

Citation Formats

General Reference

Sport and Games Atlas. "World Taekwondo (WT)." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-sport.interactiveatlas.org/governing-bodies/world-taekwondo.

APA Style

Sport and Games Atlas. (n.d.). World Taekwondo (WT). Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-sport.interactiveatlas.org/governing-bodies/world-taekwondo

BibTeX

@misc{sportandgamesatlas-world-taekwondo-wt,
  author = {Sport and Games Atlas},
  title = {World Taekwondo (WT)},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-sport.interactiveatlas.org/governing-bodies/world-taekwondo},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The international governing body for the Olympic sport of taekwondo, founded in Seoul in 1973, headquartered at the Kukkiwon in Seoul with a secondary office in Lausanne, Switzerland; renamed from World Taekwondo Federation in 2017.

Facts

Body Type

International federation 1

Founded

1973 1

Headquarters

Seoul, South Korea (Kukkiwon), with a secondary office in Lausanne, Switzerland. 1

Founders

Established 28 May 1973 at its inaugural meeting at the Kukkiwon in Seoul, South Korea, with 35 representatives from around the world; Un Yong Kim was elected its first president for a four-year term. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Governs

Taekwondo

Source Wikipedia, World Taekwondo

Sources

1. Wikipedia, World Taekwondo

WikipediaHistory section, 2017 renaming

Quote, History section, 2017 renaming

In June 2017, the body was renamed World Taekwondo to avoid the 'negative connotations' of the acronym associated with the common Internet slang WTF.

View the Source

1. Wikipedia, World Taekwondo

WikipediaLead section, founding meeting

Quote, Lead section, founding meeting

The World Taekwondo Federation was established on 28 May 1973, at its inaugural meeting held at the Kukkiwon with participation of 35 representatives from around the world.

View the Source

1. Wikipedia, World Taekwondo

WikipediaHistory section, first president

Quote, History section, first president