WT President Cho Chung-won: 'I expect Chuncheon to grow into the world's taekwondo capital'
Chuncheon, which aspires to become the world capital of taekwondo, broke ground Tuesday on the headquarters of World Taekwondo (WT).
The city will also host the world's top poomsae athletes beginning Wednesday, as they compete over five days for world titles. The economic ripple effect from the championship is estimated at about 8.4 billion won ($6.24 million).
Chuncheon Mayor Yuk Dong-han held a press briefing at the air dome briefing room of Songam Sports Town on Tuesday, announcing preparations for the 2026 Chuncheon World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships and the significance of the WT headquarters groundbreaking.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place at Songam Sports Town at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The WT headquarters will span a total floor area of 3,400 square meters and is designed to serve as a symbolic home for global taekwondo, housing international administrative offices, a multipurpose gymnasium, and taekwondo exhibition and experience facilities.
Chuncheon has built ties with the global taekwondo community for more than two decades, dating back to the country's first international open taekwondo tournament held there in 2000. The city described the new headquarters as a starting point for transforming that relationship into a permanent exchange framework.
Chuncheon envisions the WT headquarters as a hub where major taekwondo policies and future visions are discussed, and where a network connecting international sports diplomacy, education and training, international competitions, and cultural tourism and industry operates on a sustained basis.
The goal is to move beyond being a city that athletes visit briefly during international tournaments, and instead build a structure in which taekwondo figures from around the world consistently come to Chuncheon — with exchanges, training, meetings and experiences feeding into the local tourism, MICE and sports industries.
The 2026 Chuncheon World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, organized by WT, is a major international event carrying the highest ranking points as a G8-rated competition. A total of 2,269 national-team-level athletes from 85 countries will compete across 42 categories — 34 in recognized poomsae and eight in freestyle poomsae — for the top spot in the world.
Recognized poomsae showcases precise technique, disciplined movement and intense concentration. Freestyle poomsae blends traditional skills with music, choreography and creative, dynamic performance, demonstrating taekwondo's capacity for change and expansion.
The opening ceremony at the air dome Tuesday afternoon will feature performances by the Chuncheon City Taekwondo demonstration team and the WT demonstration team, along with a DJ performance and a hanbok fashion show, bringing together taekwondo and Korean culture on one stage.
Alongside the competition, a forum will be held to discuss major taekwondo policies and future visions. An extraordinary session of the WT Executive Committee, attended by some 40 global taekwondo leaders including International Olympic Committee (IOC) members and WT executive committee members, will also be held in Chuncheon that day.
Drawing on its experience running the World Taekwondo Culture Festival and the Chuncheon Korea Open International Taekwondo Tournament in July, the city has further strengthened on-site safety and convenience for athletes and spectators.
Through an administrative support headquarters, dedicated personnel will be assigned to each area to handle on-site complaints and coordinate rapid decision-making and integrated responses in emergencies.
A drone control system will be deployed outside the air dome and along major transit routes to monitor crowd density. Drones will track spectator concentration and movement in real time, and field personnel will be dispatched to disperse crowds if congestion builds in any zone.
Two additional entry and exit doors have been secured at the air dome to ease bottlenecks. Entry and exit routes will be separated, and emergency evacuation paths have been improved to allow rapid dispersal in multiple directions in the event of a fire or other emergency.
Throughout the competition, the city will maintain emergency communication channels with police, fire departments and other relevant agencies, and will operate response systems for medical support, patient transport and emergency evacuation.
On Thursday, residents and taekwondo practitioners from South Korea and abroad will walk roughly 4 kilometers from Songam Sports Town to Uiam Skywalk in the "2026 Chuncheon Peace Walk," an event marking the 45th anniversary of the UN's establishment of the International Day of Peace and celebrating the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships with a message of peace and unity.
On Saturday and Sunday, the "2026 Uiam Lake Paddleboard Festa" and "Yunseul Sunset Canoe" events will be held around Songam Sports Town and Uiam Lake. Visitors can watch world-class poomsae competition and enjoy water leisure activities including paddleboarding and canoeing. The city will operate a circular shuttle bus connecting major downtown hubs and competition venues to draw athletes and visitors into the city center, and will offer discounts at major local tourist attractions as well as accommodation packages.
WT President Cho Chung-won said Chuncheon shares a very special bond with WT. "The city has successfully hosted a variety of international taekwondo events over the years," he said. "With today's groundbreaking of the new World Taekwondo headquarters, I hope Chuncheon will grow further as the world's taekwondo capital and build a new future together with World Taekwondo."
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