STF President Milan Kwee and GM Lim Teong Chin were in Seoul, Korea from 25 to 27 October 2008 to touch base with key officials of the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU), the Kukkiwon and the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).
They also met Dr Kim Un Yong, the founder President of the WTF and former Senior Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee. Dr Kim was in the pink of health and looked ready to return to the sports scene. His sense of humour was still intact.
When he was told that he looked good, he smiled and said: “It was because I do not have the communists to contend with.”
After the exchanging of some pleasantries, the meeting discussed the future of taekwondo as a sport in the Olympics. It was clear that the WTF had to do something right quickly to boost its chances to ensure that taekwondo remained as an Olympic sport after 2012.
The meeting at Kukkiwon saw the two Singaporean officials clarifying some discrepancies in the issuance of certificates and establishing an understanding in ensuring that all certificates issued to Singaporeans were through a legitimate channel. It was a fruitful meeting presided by Mr Song Sang Keun, Kukkiwon Vice-President.
Mr Kwee and Mr Lim also had a brief meeting with Mr Lee Chong Woo who was the former WTF Vice-President and a well-known grandmaster of taekwondo. They learnt that while he was enjoying his retirement, he was still concerned with the development of the sport.
They also obtained information on the Youth Olympic Games taekwondo event from the WTF. The details included the position of the use of electronic protectors for the Games and the age and weight divisions.
The longest meeting the Singaporean officials had was with Prof Lee Kyu Seok, ATU Senior Vice-President and STF Technical Advisor. Among other things, they spoke about the relationship of ATU and Asean Taekwondo Federation. Dr Lee Dai Soon, ATU President was not able to attend the meeting as he had to undergo eye surgery two days ago.
Mr Kwee and Mr Lim were scheduled to leave Korea on 29 October 2008 but they chose to return a day earlier as they had accomplished their mission.