SEOUL (March 25, 2006) — The World Taekwondo Federation held a demonstration of electronic protectors in Seoul on March 25, 2006.

The demonstration, the second of its kind by WTF after the demonstration on July 20, 2005, drew four electronic protector manufacturers – LaJUST of Korea; ATM of Austria; True Score (Impact Measurement), a joint venture between the United States and Korea; and Daedo International of Spain.

The one-day demonstration, which took place at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, was conducted before WTF President Chungwon Choue and other WTF leaders from Korea and abroad, along with members of the ad-hoc WTF Committee on Electronic Protectors.

Also in attendance at the demonstration was Dr. Cha-sok Park, vice president of WTF and president of the Pan American Taekwondo Union.

In the morning, all the four participating companies demonstrated their respective body protectors, and LaJUST and Daedo showed off their body protector and headgear demonstrations. In the afternoon, there were question-and-answer sessions.

“The demonstration today is very important for the future of taekwodno and WTF. We will do out utmost to make judgment and refereeing at taekwondo competitions the most objective and transparent,” said Dr. Chungwon Choue, president of WTF.

As part of WTF’s reform program, the ad-hoc committee on electronic protector was set up in July 2005 and held its first meeting together with a demonstration of electronic protectors on July 20 in 2005 in Seoul.

The committee is composed of nine members, including Mr. Soo-nam Park, vice president of WTF, who serves as chairman of the committee; and Mr. Eui-min Ko, chairman of the WTF Technical Committee.

Among other committee members are Mr. Amr Khairy of Egypt, vice chairman of the WTF Technical Committee; and Mr. Chakir Chelbat of Sweden, member of the WTF Refereeing Committee.

In accordance with the recommendations of the ad-hoc committee after the first demonstration on July 20, 2005, WTF commissioned the Korea Institute of Sports Science to produce a report on basic specifications on electronic protectors. On Dec. 30, 2005, WTF announced the  specifications developed by the KISS.

The ad-hoc committee on electronic protectors held meetings on March 24 and 26 at the WTF Headquarters.

At the meetings, the committee, aimed at developing criteria for evaluating the technological aspects of electronic protectors, discussed the time table for the certification and recognition procedures of electronic protector companies.

WTF aims to introduce the new electronic protector system at the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships to be held in Beijing, China, in 2007 and plans to introduce the new system at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to ensure fairness in refereeing and judgment at taekwondo competition.

The WTF Reform Report, which was produced in February 2005, recommended the introduction of a highly effective and accurate electronic protector to be a valuable addition to the sport by helping make judging more objective.