South Korea and Laos have joined hands to develop the sport of Taekwondo in both countries.
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art, characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. It has been an Olympic sport since 2000.
South Korea’s Seogwipo Taekwondo Federation and the Lao National Taekwondo Federation agreed on a partnership on December 14 seeking future cooperation and exchanges of talent.
The partnership came after Seogwipo Taekwondo Federation dispatched a total of nine middle school Taekwondo participants to Vientiane between December 11 and 15 for a friendly match with their Lao counterparts upon invitation by the Lao National Taekwondo Federation. The two parties also participated in joint training exercises.
Laos first introduced the Korean martial art in March 2017. But the country made a historic debut not long after the inception of it.
Laos’s Pha Manyvong reached quarterfinals in the 2017 World Taekwondo Asian Para Taekwondo Open in Chuncheon, South Korea. It was the first time for Lao Taekwondo practitioners to compete in the international match.
At that time, the 20-year-old from Vang Vieng defeated Kazakhstan’s Zhumagali Yerzhanov in the last 16 of the under 61kg K42 (13-1), before losing in the quarter-final to Iran’s world No.1 Saeid Sadeghianpour.
