Hwang Kwang-sung
founder - trainer
🌍 Korean-American🥊 ITF Secretary-General, UITF founder, General Choi's Special Assistant, Vietnam Tiger Division🎂 13-09-1942- 29-12-2025
Hwang Kwang-sung (13 September 1942 – 29 December 2025) was one of the world’s most respected Korean Taekwon-Do pioneers. On 8 December 1997, General Choi Hong Hi promoted him to 9th Dan Grandmaster (certificate number K-9-1), sharing that historic day with American pioneer GM Charles Sereff. He was the first Korean residing in the United States to receive that rank directly from the founder.
He began training in martial arts at the age of eleven in Daegu, South Korea. After studying political science, he graduated from the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) Officer Academy. During the Vietnam War (1968–1969), Captain Hwang was deployed as chief military instructor to the elite Korean Tiger Division, while also training units of the US Army, US Marines, and Vietnamese army. He received high military decorations from both Korea and Vietnam. He left active service in 1970/1971 as company commander of the 26th Infantry Division, informally known as the official Taekwon-Do Division.
In 1971, he emigrated to the United States, becoming one of the first instructors to teach accredited Taekwon-Do at an American college, and opened his first dojang in 1972. Within the ITF, he rose to its highest levels: in April 1994, General Choi personally appointed him Special Assistant—his official spokesman and right-hand man. He served as Secretary-General of the ITF and chaired the Promotion and Merger Committees. From 1990 onward, he directed the training and selection of US national junior and senior teams for official ITF World Championships.
To protect General Choi’s legacy and original philosophy after the founder’s death, he founded the KoreAmerica Taekwon-Do Union (KATU), expanding it in 2004 into the Unified International Taekwon-Do Federation (UITF)—an independent global federation dedicated to the pure original system.
In March 2021, he was inducted into the Official TaeKwon-Do Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Grandmaster Hwang Kwang-sung passed away in late 2025 at the age of 83 in Farmington, Connecticut.
He began training in martial arts at the age of eleven in Daegu, South Korea. After studying political science, he graduated from the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) Officer Academy. During the Vietnam War (1968–1969), Captain Hwang was deployed as chief military instructor to the elite Korean Tiger Division, while also training units of the US Army, US Marines, and Vietnamese army. He received high military decorations from both Korea and Vietnam. He left active service in 1970/1971 as company commander of the 26th Infantry Division, informally known as the official Taekwon-Do Division.
In 1971, he emigrated to the United States, becoming one of the first instructors to teach accredited Taekwon-Do at an American college, and opened his first dojang in 1972. Within the ITF, he rose to its highest levels: in April 1994, General Choi personally appointed him Special Assistant—his official spokesman and right-hand man. He served as Secretary-General of the ITF and chaired the Promotion and Merger Committees. From 1990 onward, he directed the training and selection of US national junior and senior teams for official ITF World Championships.
To protect General Choi’s legacy and original philosophy after the founder’s death, he founded the KoreAmerica Taekwon-Do Union (KATU), expanding it in 2004 into the Unified International Taekwon-Do Federation (UITF)—an independent global federation dedicated to the pure original system.
In March 2021, he was inducted into the Official TaeKwon-Do Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Grandmaster Hwang Kwang-sung passed away in late 2025 at the age of 83 in Farmington, Connecticut.