The Global Taekwondo Federation (GTF) is an offshoot of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). It was founded by Park Jung Tae in 1990. Some sources cite the controversies surrounding General Choi Hong Hi as the impetus for the split, with indications that one of the motivations may have been disapproval of Choi's purported tendency to award high-level black belts to people who had not earned them. The official reason given on the GTF website:
- Over the course of time, tensions grew between General Choi and Grand Master Park. They had disagreements on many issues from technical matters to political issues rising out of the undo influences being exerted on the ITF from the North Korean government and other internal matters. Grand Master Park at that time was the only person in the ITF that had the position and support in the ITF to speak out on behalf of the Masters/Senior Instructors and challenge General Choi in regards to the controversial decisions being made at the time. This created an untenable situation which ultimately in 1989 caused the split between General Choi and Grand Master Park. This was a pivotal point in the future development and promotion of traditional Taekwon-Do.
The GTF practices Choi's ITF Patterns, but in addition Park added six new patterns: Jee-Sang, Dhan-Goon, Jee-Goo, Jook-Am, Pyong-Hwa and Sun-Duk. Also, GTF uses the original ITF form Ko-Dang, but never its replacement, Juche. According to the GTF website, Park also wanted GTF-style taekwondo to improve upon ITF-style taekwondo by emphasizing more a smooth flow of movements.
Note: The GTF should not be confused with the GTFi: The Global Taekwon-do Federation International.