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The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Chairman Man-Hee Lee, hereinafter referred to as Shincheonji Church of Jesus), Taekwondo team once again proved its skills on the international stage, with each member winning medals at the 2025 Park Chung-hee Cup International Open Taekwondo Competition.
The 2025 Park Chung-hee Cup International Open Taekwondo Competition was hosted by the Park Chung-hee Cup Organizing Committee and co-hosted by the Gyeongbuk Taekwondo Association and Sangju City Taekwondo Association.
Approximately 4,200 athletes from 18 countries worldwide, including Korea, the U.S., and France, participated in a heated competition at the Sangju Indoor Gymnasium from July 18 to 21.
The competition consisted of various events, such as comprehensive competition, breaking, forms, kicking, and actual sparring, and evaluated the skills of the participants in a three-dimensional manner.
The Shincheonji Taekwondo team had 25 players compete in the official individual competition held on the 19th. Despite the short preparation period, they showed off their dazzling skills through focused training and persistent effort. As a result, the team won four gold medals, seven silver medals, and 14 bronze medals, with each member winning an award.
Notably, this competition received attention as an opportunity to raise the cultural and diplomatic status of the Republic of Korea. The performance at the international competition in Korea, the home of Taekwondo, was assessed as leaving a strong impression on domestic and international participants.
Lee Jun-wi, who won the gold medal, shares, “Although I didn’t have enough training time, I put in effort to focus as much as possible within the given time. I am grateful that the efforts led to good results.”
National team coach Kim Deok-hoon says, “As this is an international competition, many excellent athletes, both domestic and abroad, participated and competed at a high level,” and added, “I am proud that the players demonstrated their skills without wavering. Based on this competition, we will systematically prepare a training system and strategy to have more players and improved skills next year.”
The Shincheonji Taekwondo team achieved outstanding results not only at the Park Chung-hee Cup but also at the 2025 Kim Un-yong Cup International Open Taekwondo Competition held in Busan earlier this month, where all participants won awards.
Twelve participants participated, including two first-place winners, four second-place winners, and five third-place winners, continuing their record of consecutive awards in international competitions.
In addition, the Shincheonji Taekwondo team has been achieving excellent results in domestic and international competitions yearly, with 5 out of 18 players placing in the 2024 Mungyeong World Taekwondo Hanmadang held last year.
The Shincheonji team has established itself as a team that possesses both skill and stable team management. Shincheonji Church of Jesus is actively engaged in cultivating talent and healthy community activities in various fields such as sports, culture, and art, as well as religious beliefs. It plans to continue to achieve a healthy life and social contribution through sports in the future.
