Some 900 people from about 40 countries will gather at Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters in southern Seoul, on Saturday for a festival featuring competitions and Korean cultural activities.
The 2026 Foreigner Taekwondo Exhibition Festival will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Kukkiwon in Gangnam-gu. Participants include US Forces Korea personnel, international students, foreign workers and members of multicultural families, according to Gangnam-gu Office.
Organized by Gangnam-gu and Kukkiwon, the event will feature five competition categories: sparring, knife-hand breaking, speed kicking, high jumping kicks and poomsae, a series of set offensive and defensive movements.
Participants will compete in student and adult divisions, with medals and plaques awarded to winners in each category.
Outside the competition area, participants and visitors can make fans, traditional lucky pouches, bookmarks and crafts made with hanji, or traditional Korean paper.
They can also try traditional games such as jegichagi, which involves keeping a shuttlecock in the air with the feet, and tuho, in which players throw arrows into a container.
Participants can practice writing their names in Korean and make name stamps and personalized key rings. A separate area will be set aside for participants to write postcards and leave messages for one another.
Preliminary rounds for poomsae and sparring will begin at 9 a.m., followed by an opening ceremony at 10 a.m. The sparring finals and other events will start at 1 p.m., with the awards ceremony scheduled for 5 p.m.
“I hope the festival will bring taekwondo practitioners from around the world together to showcase their skills, build friendships and experience the values of taekwondo and Korean culture,” Gangnam-gu Mayor Kim Hyeon-ki said.
yunapark@heraldcorp.com
