World Taekwondo Federation to hold demonstration in Pyongyang for 1st time

MUJU, South Korea, June 30 (Yonhap) -- The taekwondo demonstration team of the sport's South Korea-led world governing body will perform for the first time in Pyongyang this fall, an official with knowledge of the matter said Friday. The official with the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) said its demonstration team will perform during the opening ceremony of the world championships by the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) in September. "The WTF team will travel to Pyongyang from Sept. 16 to 20," the official said, noting the ITF's championships will run from Sept. 17 to 21. The WTF team will take the stage in the opening ceremony and will likely have another performance in Pyongyang before returning home. The two organizations have agreed on the trip on the sidelines of the WTF World Taekwondo Championships, which will conclude later Friday in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul. The WTF, with South Korean Choue Chung-won as president, is headquartered in Seoul and is the official world governing organization of taekwondo. The ITF, based in Vienna, is led by North Korean Ri Yong-son. The ITF sent its demonstration team of 16 North Koreans to perform in the opening and the closing ceremonies of the WTF competition, as per the two organizations' cooperative agreement signed in August 2014, called the "Protocol of Accord." This was the ITF's first visit to South Korea in 10 years and first to a WTF event in South Korea. The two sides were expected to discuss a reciprocal visit by the WTF to Pyongyang. The Koreas remain technically at war because the Korean War ended in 1953 in an armistice, not a peace treaty. South Koreans' trips across the tense border must be authorized by the government here and also require North Korea's consent. jeeho@yna.co.kr (END)