Park Jong Soo | |
---|---|
Born | 1941 (age 70–71) Chung-Nam, Korea |
Residence | Toronto, Canada |
Style | Taekwondo |
Teacher(s) | Choi Hong Hi |
Rank | 9th dan taekwondo (ITF) |
Website | http://www.jongpark.com/ |
Park Jong Soo (born 1941) is a South Korean master of taekwondo and one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association.[1][2][3] He holds the rank of 9th dan.[4][5] Following a career in the South Korean military, he emigrated to Canada in 1968.
Park was born in Chung-Nam, Korea, in 1941, during the period of Japanese occupation.[4] He trained in taekwondo under Choi Hong Hi.[5] In 1965, he was invited to be the coach of the German Taekwon-Do Association, and moved from South Korea to West Germany.[4] Park was ranked 5th dan that year.[6] The following year, he moved to the Netherlands and founded the Netherlands Taekwon-Do Association.[4] Through the late 1960s and 1970s, Park was a key member of the taekwondo demonstration teams that accompanied H. H. Choi around the world.[7]
In 1968, Park settled in Toronto, Canada.[4] In 1973, he held the rank of 7th dan.[8] In 1974, Park and several other ITF masters demonstrated taekwondo in Toronto—then being promoted as "the new home of the ITF" by Choi.[9] Park and Choi went their separate ways after Choi insisted on establishing relations with North Korea during a politically-sensitive period.[10] By 2002, however, they were reconciled, and Park was present at Choi's deathbed.[10]
In 2004, Park was President of the Canadian Taekwon-Do Association, and presented a seminar in Afghanistan.[11] In 2008, Park conducted a seminar in Beijing.[12] He currently heads taekwondo schools in Toronto.[13]
Park is listed as a pioneer in Canada (1950s, 1960s, and 1970s) in Chang Keun Choi's list of taekwondo pioneers.[14]