Re-Unification Through Taekwon-Do

The dream of re-unifying North and South Korea is slowly fading away. In the past when there were still many families that were separated by the arbitrary division line that was set up after the Korean War, a strong drive still existed among the Korean populace towards unification. But now, decades later, the majority of the relatives who were separated have passed away. Also, after decades of separation, the two Koreas have now also separated culturally. At first one could really have talked about "one Korea", as the common people did indeed share the same culture and values. But after years of either Democratic / Capitalist motivations for the one, and years of Communist rhetoric and oppression for the other, we now have generations of young Koreans who have very little in common with those people across the border.


In a recent documentary (part of a series by KBS on re-unification), the idea of Taekwon-Do as a means for connecting Koreans across the political and DMZ divide came up again. This is not the first documentary of this nature that focus on the possible role Taekwon-Do might have to bring Korean people together.  There are two main styles of Taekwon-Do practiced around the world, Kukki / WTF Taekwon-Do and ITF Taekwon-Do. In North and South Korea, however, each emphasize another style. In South Korea the Kukki / WTF style of Taekwon-Do (the one that is also practised in the Olympic Games) is most prominent. You can find a Kukki style Taekwon-Do club in every neighborhood. Trying to find an ITF school is almost impossible. In Seoul, the capital of South Korea, there are only two ITF style schools admits an sea of Kukki / WTF style schools. Conversely, in North Korea it is ITF Taekwon-Do which is state approved and Kukki / WTF style is neglected.

Just as the Korean people who originally shared the same culture but because of separation has now become culturally quite different, the two styles of Taekwon-Do has undergone the same respective evolutions. They are both Taekwon-Do, and have the same roots, but their further development have taken them on different evolutionary paths.

The documentary ends on a high note, with two Taekwon-Do demonstration teams, one from South Korea and one from North Korea, meeting for a shared demonstration in Russia, and having a sort of cultural martial arts exchange. The North Koreans being inspired by the flashy kicks and acrobatic skills of the South Korean Kukki / WTF practitioners, and the South Koreans in awe of the power of the ITF demonstrators from the North. There is even moments of hand-shaking, hugging, and funny pictures. What this event shows, is something that a North Korean defector now living in South Korea recently strongly asserted in an essay "Beyond Blood and Bloody Relations"--the idea of re-unification must face the fact that there are indeed two separate Korean nations.

As long as Koreans insist that they are one--rather than two cultures--there can never be the type of cultural exchange necessary to form relations and understanding. And maybe such Taekwon-Do gatherings of shared demonstrations by two different Taekwon-Do styles could indeed provide an example that may lead towards mutual respect and understanding. Only then can one even consider talking about re-unification.

Below is the the ITF Taekwon-Do pattern Tong-Il, which means "Reunification" and symbolizes the hope of a unified Korea. This is the final pattern in the ITF Taekwon-Do curriculum.