World Taekwondo

World Taekwondo
세계 태권도 연맹
AbbreviationWT
Formation28 May 1973 (1973-05-28)
PurposeMartial art and sport
HeadquartersSejongdaero 55, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Lausanne, Switzerland
Location
  • South Korea
Region served
Worldwide
Membership213 national associations
Official language
English, Korean, French and Spanish
President
Choue Chung-won
Affiliations17 July 1980 (1980-07-17) International Olympic Committee and 16 October 2013 (2013-10-16) International Paralympic Committee
Websiteworldtaekwondo.org

World Taekwondo, formerly the World Taekwondo Federation, is an international federation governing the sport of Taekwondo and Para Taekwondo. WT is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

The World Taekwondo Federation was established on 28 May 1973, at its inaugural meeting held at the Kukkiwon with participation of 35 representatives from around the world. As of May 2023 there are 213 member nations. Since 2004, Choue Chung-won has been the president of World Taekwondo, succeeding the first president, Kim Un-yong.

World Taekwondo (WT) was recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on October 16, 2013, and the IPC later included taekwondo in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympics. On 17 July 1980, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognized World Taekwondo Federation at its 83rd Session in Moscow, Russia. Taekwondo debuted as a demonstration sport of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. On 4 September 1994, Taekwondo was adopted as an official sport of the 2000 Summer Olympics at the 103rd IOC Session in Paris, France.

In June 2017, World Taekwondo Federation was renamed as World Taekwondo to avoid its acronym WTF clashing with the common Internet slang WTF.