A mountain in Muju County in North Jeolla Province

Muju County in North Jeolla Province will soon be turned into the center for the world's Taekwondo practitioners and activities as it was designated Dec. 30, 2004 as the site for a "Taekwondo Park."

Muju-gun (County), a small rural town with 26,000 population, has been vying fiercely with six other candidates including Gyeongju of North Gyeongsang Province, Chuncheon of Gangwon Province, and Jincheon of North Chungcheong Province for a venue for the Taekwondo park.

"It will be a mecca for 50 million Taekwondo members scattered in more than 170 countries to visit at least once in their lifetime," said Lee Dai-Soon, chairman of the Taekwondo Park Construction Promotion Committee in a press meeting. Taekwondo Park will represent "martial art spirit" of Asia.

Lee Dai-Soon, chairman of the Taekwondo Park Construction Promotion Committee

"In short, Taekwondo Park will be symbolic of Asian martial art just the way the Shaolin Temple symbolizes Chinese martial art," Lee added. The World Taekwondo Headquarters (Kukkiwon) in Seoul, currently the center of the world's Taekwondo activities, will later move to the Muju Taekwondo Park.

The Taekwondo Park will be constructed on a site as large as 200,000 pyeong or 660,000 sq. meters. The whole park comprises nearly all kinds of related facilities and institutes needed to make Muju truly a mecca for all the Taekwondo practitioners and others involved in the Korean martial art. A total of 164.4 billion won (nearly $158 million) will be spent on the "Theme Park for Experiencing Taekwondo."

The first stage of the construction will be built on a 60,000 pyong (198,000 sq. meters) site. The buildings and complexes to be built are as follows:
Taekwondo Hall of Fame, Taekwondo Practicing Hall of Korea, Taekwon Training Complex, Living Quarter, Multi-Purpose Playground, Taekwondo Plaza, Taekwondo Spiritual Training Center, Camping Area, Traditional Korean Archery Center, and Future Taekwondo Research Institute.

Gov. Kang Hyun-Wook of North Jeolla Province in press meeting

The Taekwondo Hall of Fame will be an exhibition area for Taekwondo history and for those who contributed to Taekwondo. Taekwondo Practicing Hall of Korea will be used as a place for high-level practitioners to get promotion test. The second stage of the construction will include: World Culture Village, Sports Complex, Hospital of Traditional Oriental Medicine, Traditional Korean Garden, Herb Cultivation Field, and Forest Bathing Area. They will be built on a plot of 140,000 pyeong or (462,000 sq. meters).

The first-stage construction is scheduled to be completed by 2009 but Lee said that he will request the government to help them finish the construction one year earlier so that all the Taekwondo people attending the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will have a chance to visit the park.

When completed the Taekwondo Park is expected to generate over 3 trillion won (nearly $2.9 billion) worth of values annually by attracting the world's Taekwondo populations and by boosting tourism in the area.

Photos of Muju County, North Jeolla Province