Build a Culture of Peace, not a Culture of Winning, through Taekwondo Diplomacy

Yet, there has been little discussion on the potential complications with using Taekwondo for diplomatic purposes. Despite their good intentions, the current Taekwondo governing bodies’ proposals to hold competitions between their athletes ignores previous sport diplomacy theory, the organizations’ successes, and hazards outlined in current sports diplomacy research.Moreover, there exists a possibly of increasing hostilities between the Korean peoples and possibly not influencing the target audience. This exploratory study discusses the complications currently existent in this strategy and offers a potential solution that focuses on Taekwondo’s ultimate pedagogical goal: the building of peace. Sport diplomacy and peacebuilding both bring people together to create lasting relationships based on shared interests and values. The present study builds upon recent Taekwondo diplomacy research by suggesting Taekwondo actors adapt Galtung’s (1973) conflict resolution theory (CRT) to avoid the pitfalls of sports diplomacy while building upon the successes of past Taekwondo cultural diplomacy efforts.