Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has received an honorary 10th dan (degree) black belt in taekwondo.

Ban was awarded an honorary 10th dan taekwondo black-belt certificate by the World Taekwondo Federation President Choue Chung-won at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday, the federation said.

The dan was given to Ban as part of celebrations marking the federation’s 40th anniversary.

The U.N. secretary general is the third recipient of an honorary 10th dan black belt after the late President of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch and the current IOC President Jacques Rogge.

The award came a day before the opening of the third International Forum on Sport for Peace and Development at the U.N. headquarters. The two-day biennial forum, jointly organized by the U.N. and the IOC, was attended by IOC President Rogge, U.N. Secretary-General Ban and WTF President Choue.

“The black belt is a globally recognized symbol of expertise across the martial arts and awarding it to the secretary-general represents how strongly matched the WTF’s values are with the United Nations,” Choue said.

“The World Taekwondo Federation has many accomplishments to celebrate as they mark its 40th anniversary. They have become a great example of the values and objectives that are shared by the United Nations and the Olympic Movement,” Ban said.

“Through its mission of sport and development activities such as the World Taekwondo Peace Corps, the WTF has done a great job in promoting education of youth, gender equality, healthy living, cross-cultural understanding and international cooperation, so that anyone who wishes to participate can reach for their dreams in life,” he added.

Around 70 million people practice taekwondo in the world. The World Taekwondo Peace Corps has dispatched volunteers to 93 countries in five continents since its establishment in 2008.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)