GCS International SG appointed as President of Seoul Hangung Association

By Seok-jae Kang
Vice President, Asia Journalists Association

SEOUL: Dr. Seok-jae Kang, secretary general of GCS International, has been appointed as a new president of the Seoul Hangung Association.

Hu Kwang, president of the World Hangung Association (WHA), presented Dr. Kang with the letter of appointment as president of the Seoul Hangung Assocition at the Hangung CHANGE House in Cheongyang County, South Chungcheong Province on the opening day of the house on November 29, 2023.

The appointment ceremony drew about 20 Hangung Class 2 referees and leaders from Seoul and Incheon as well as ranking officials of the World Hangung Association and the Korea Hangung Association.

Among the VIPs on hand at the ceremony were WHA President Hu Kwang, Mrs. Lee Ok-hee, CEO of the Hangung Globalization Institute; Mrs. Bae Sun-hee, head of the Hangung Family-HELPs Education & Culture Promotion Institute; Jeong Hui-jong, secretary general of the WHA; Lee Jun-hyeong, deputy secretary general of the Korea Hangung Association; Jeong Gi-ho, director of the Korea Hangung Federation for the Disabled; Heo Do-won, director of the Global Hangung Leaders Education Institute; and Heo Do-hwi, director of the Hangung Globalization Institute.

The new Seoul Hangung Association president, who also serves as senior consultant for World Taekwondo and vice president & secretary general of the Asia Journalists Association, will hold the top post until the end of 2027.

“Based on my experience of taekwondo’s globalization, I will do my utmost to help establish the Korea-originated Hangung as the world’s representative sport for all for the youth and seniors as well as for the disadvantaged,” Kang said shortly after receiving the appointment letter. “In this regard, the Seoul Hangung Association will actively network with organizations at home and abroad to serve the mankind as a sport for all in the spirit of the ‘Hongik Ingan’ or benefiting the mankind), with top priority on cultivating Hangung referees and lecturers and strengthening its organizational structure in Seoul.”

Dr. Kang has served a board member of the World Hangung Association since 2021 and the WHA signed an MOU with GCS International, headed by World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue, in 2020 to help support refugees and the powerless in developing countries.

WHA President Hu Kwang said, “Under the strong leadership of Dr. Kang, I believe that the Seoul Hangung Association will play a crucial role in the globalization of Hangung .”

The Korea Hangung Association was established in 2009, with the Korea Hangung Association for the Disabled in 2013 and the World Hangung Association in 2014. The Korea Hangung Association and the Korea Hangung Association for the Disabled were officially approved as a recognized sport organization by the Korean Sport & Olympic Council in 2021.

Hangung, or hands archery, was invented by Korean Hu Kwang in 2006. Hangung is a sport for all, which combines the western dart game with traditional Korean archery and ‘Tuho’ or throwing sticks from a set distance into a canister, plus an electronic score board. Hangung is a recording sport that throws Hangung pins five times each with the right hand and the left hand and determines a play with a higher mark as the winner. Hangung is a safe sport for all, which is easily accessible and good for concentration and communication among generations. Hangung is especially fit for the physically and mentally handicapped as well as the youth and seniors.

The WHA was registered with the Association for International Sports for All (TAFISA) as an international member in 2015, with Hangung being recognized as a TAFISA traditional sport & game at the same year.

On December 2, the Seoul Hangung Association organized a workshop for Hangung referees and lecturers, in which they held a Hangung competition, as well as a year-end party in Nowon-gu, Seoul, with the attendance of about 30 Class 2 & 3 Hangung referees and leaders. All the participants wished for another take-off of the Seoul Hangung Association.