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Yeon Hwan Park

b. 1952

South Korean taekwondo practitioner

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About Yeon Hwan Park

Born 1952. Yeon Hwan Park is a South Korean taekwondo athlete.

Park Yeon-Hwan (; born June 29, 1952) is a South Korean Grandmaster of Taekwondo. He currently has earned a ninth-degree black belt and holds the title kwan jang-nim (Grandmaster) under the direction of the Kukkiwon. Park was the undefeated Korean national champion of Tae Kwon Do from 1971 to 1975 and the former coach of the U.S. Olympic and Pan-American Tae Kwon Do team.

Park trained in his native Korea from early childhood. He attended Korea University and served in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps before being dispatched by the South Korean government as an emissary to Africa, where he began teaching taekwondo in Lesotho. taekwondo was still largely unknown outside of Korea. In 1983 Park established the goal of increasing the popularity of the sport in a concerted movement towards having taekwondo become recognized as an official Olympic Sport. In response to the work of Park and other taekwondo leaders the International Olympic Committee granted the sport Demonstration Sport status in the 1988 and 1992 games and as a full medal sport, commencing with the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia.

He has also served as president of the New York State Tae Kwon Do Association and in 1993 he became the secretary-general of the United States Tae Kwon Do Union. Park has been an adjunct professor of Taekwondo at Long island University and at the University of Bridgeport, lecturer and has coauthored Black Belt Tae Kwon Do and Tae Kwon Do, Third Edition, both for Checkmark Books, as well as 12 other books on the martial art. His latest book, Tae Kwon Do, My Life and Philosophy was published in 2009.

Park currently teaches about fifteen classes a week, from beginner to black belt competition training in his Dojang, or training center, in Levittown, NY, which is one of a series of Tae Kwon Do learning academies opened under the YH Park name, in the United States since 1983, and is currently under the direction of his eldest son and fifth degree black belt, Edward Park. Park is also an advisor to the United States Taekwondo Education Foundation, a non profit organization whose mission statement is to spread Tae Kwon Do philosophies to public schools.

The January 2014 issue of Tae Kwon Do Times Magazine featured Grandmaster Park and his sons, Edward and Elliott, in an article about the changing demographics of leadership in the United States Taekwondo community from its Korean School founders, which were largely Korean immigrants, to their children, who are largely first generation Americans.

In 2014 Park was named a USA Taekwondo Regional membership Director.

In January 2016 Park was named President of the Board of Tae Kwon Do Life Magazine, an international print and digital publication.

In August, 2019 Grandmaster Park was awarded a 10th Dan Certificate from the Cheonjiwon World All Martial Arts Federation in Korea.

The May 2021 issue of Hoonlyun Magazine featured Grandmaster Park on the cover. This is the official journal of the United States Taekwondo Association.

On August 19, 2022 Grandmaster Park was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame for his lifetime contributions to the development of Taekwondo.

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Nationality
Education
Korea University
Also known as
Park Yeon-hwan

People in Yeon Hwan Park's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Yeon Hwan Park's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Yeon Hwan Park?

South Korean taekwondo practitioner

When was Yeon Hwan Park born?

Yeon Hwan Park was born on 29 June 1952 in South Korea.

What is Yeon Hwan Park's occupation?

Yeon Hwan Park is a taekwondo athlete.

What nationality is Yeon Hwan Park?

Yeon Hwan Park is South Korean.

Sources & further reading

Β· Wikipedia: Yeon Hwan Park

Β· Wikidata: Q16151897

Β· DBpedia: Park Yeon-hwan

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Yeon Hwan Park. https://biography.guide/yeon-hwan-park/

MLA: "Yeon Hwan Park." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/yeon-hwan-park/.

Chicago: "Yeon Hwan Park." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/yeon-hwan-park/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 Β· Spot an error? Report a correction.

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