Young Il Kong

Kong Young-il (born 1943) is a South Korean master of taekwondo and one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association. He holds the rank of 9th dan. Following a career in the South Korean military, he emigrated to the United States of America in the late 1960s.

Early life Kong was born in 1943 in Korea, during the period of Japanese occupation.

United States Kong moved to the United States of America just before or in 1968. He and his younger brother, Young Bo Kong, founded the Young Brothers Taekwondo Associates in 1968, Las Vegas, and Pittsburgh. In an interview, Y. B. Kong said that he arrived in the United States in 1972. In 1973, Kong held the rank of 7th dan. Kong has another brother, Young Joon Kong, who also competed and was involved in teaching taekwondo, but retired and became a golfer.

Kong was promoted to the rank of 9th dan in 1997 by H. H. Choi in Poland.