Jung Tae Park, founder of the Global Taekwondo Federation
PARK, Jung-tae (c. 1943 – 11 April 2002) was a South Korean master of taekwondo and a pioneer of that martial art in Canada. He was one of the twelve Original Masters of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association. Following a career in the South Korean military, Park emigrated to Canada in 1970. He was a key leader in the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) under Choi Hong Hi, but founded the Global Taekwondo Federation in 1990 after leaving the ITF.
Park was born in 1943 or 1944 in Korea, during the period of Japanese occupation. He began training in the martial arts as a child, starting with boxing before moving on to judo and then taekwondo. Park moved to Canada where he met his future wife, Linda, in Toronto in 1970. During the 1970s, Park established the Manitoba Tae Kwon-Do Association. In 1975, he was ranked 6th dan in ITF-style taekwondo. In 1978 and 1979, he accompanied Choi Hong Hi on taekwondo demonstration tours in Europe. In 1984, he conducted a seminar in Brisbane, Australia. At the time, he was ranked 8th dan in the ITF. In November 1984, Park was elected Secretary-General of the ITF. He also held the position of Technical Chairman of the ITF.
Park founded the Global Taekwon-Do Federation (GTF) on 14 June 1990, the year after his departure from the ITF due to North–South Korean political issues. He created six additional taekwondo forms to be practiced along with the earlier ITF patterns. After teaching taekwondo for many years, Park died in 2002.
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