Dean KIM Jeong Han and Professor Russell Changseob AHN
Seoul National University (SNU) and UC Berkeley held a ceremony on December 9, 2014 in the administration building of SNU to celebrate the establishment of the taekwondo club exchange agreement. The Dean of Student Affairs (who is also the advisor of SNU’s Taekwondo Club) KIM Jeong Han, Dean of the College of Education JUN Tae-Won, and students of the SNU Taekwondo Club were present at the ceremony. In addition, representatives from UC Berkeley present at the ceremony were professor and advisor of the UC Berkeley Taekwondo Club Russell Changseob AHN, Professor Emeritus MIN Kyeong-ho and others.
Seoul National University’s Taekwondo Club is composed of approximately 60 students while UC Berkeley’s club is over double that of SNU with around 150 students. The SNU-UC Berkeley Taekwondo Club Exchange Agreement allows for various opportunities for the two clubs to interact. An exchange exhibition match is being planned for the near future which will allow members of both clubs to exert their taekwondo skills in a foreign environment. In addition, a trial competition may be organized and held by the two clubs, which can become an opportunity for amateur university-level taekwondo to flourish. Other activities are being planned and the UC Berkeley Taekwondo Club members are scheduled to participate in a joint training with the SNU Taekwondo Club in SNU on June 2015.
The exchange agreement between UC Berkeley and Seoul National University is a further indication of the increasing global popularity of the traditional Korean sports, especially within an academic context. Although SNU is not commonly recognized as a sports university, the particular environment that SNU students are immersed in may be a reason why the SNU Taekwondo Club is an attractive option to interact with. The SNU Taekwondo Club is largely composed of students in the Department of Physical Education. Students who wish to study physical education at SNU must have high academic scores as well as outstanding physical prowess. Taekwondo is a sport that requires great discipline, offering a unique combination of both mental as well as physical challenges.
A member of the SNU Taekwondo Club, CHOI Ji Hoon (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering), expressed his views on the exchange agreement. “Our SNU Taekwondo Club has been in an exchange agreement with Tokyo University for some years, and we have interacted by training together and participating in annual friendly matches. With the recent exchange agreement made with UC Berkeley’s Taekwondo Club, we will be participating in even more diverse activities. I think it will be a great opportunity and experience for both taekwondo clubs. It will enable us to not only exchange our skills but also to expand our connections outside our campus and our country.”
Written by OH Jung Eun, SNU English Editor, josefinaoh@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr