Jong Soo Park

Jong Soo Park

This page relates to the person PARK, Jong-soo. For the taekwondo form of the same name, see Park Jong Soo (form).

PARK, Jong-soo (born 1941) is one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korean Taekwon-Do Association. He holds the rank of 9th dan. 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. He trained in taekwondo under Choi Hong Hi. In 1965, he was invited to be the coach of the German Taekwon-Do Association, and moved from South Korea to West Germany. Park was ranked 5th dan that year. The following year, he moved to the Netherlands and founded the Netherlands Taekwon-Do Association.

In 1968, Park settled in Toronto, Canada. In 1973, he held the rank of 7th dan. In 1974, Park and several other ITF masters demonstrated taekwondo in Toronto—then being promoted as "the new home of the ITF" by Choi. Park and Choi went their separate ways after Choi insisted on establishing relations with North Korea during a politically sensitive period. By 2002, however, they were reconciled, and Park was present at Choi's deathbed.

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jong_Soo_Park
• http://jongpark.com/
• http://www.bluecottagetkd.com/Pioneers.html