[KS] Taekwondo as women's self-empowerment

[Afostercarter at aol.com]

Dear friends and colleagues,
 
Like many Koreanists, unless you are sporty  types,
I'm usually guilty of paying all too  little heed to 
what - even in this age of hallyu - surely  remains
Korean culture's most successful global export.
 
The recent ITF championships in Pyongyang made
me ponder anew the odyssey of Choe Hong-hui:
from ROK general to the bosom of Kim Il-sung,
and now buried in the Patriotic Martyrs Cemetery.
 
Choe continues to command fierce loyalty; see eg
_http://www.itf-information.com/information01.htm_ 
(http://www.itf-information.com/information01.htm) 
 
I'd be interested in how his followers, eg in the  US,
make sense of his defection. (One UK paper wrote an 
obituary which omitted to mention where he  died!)
 
In search of such material, I found something  different.
Taekwondo as specifically empowering women is a
novel thought; but this lengthy article, from what  I
think is the suburbs of Denver, makes a strong  case.
I am much enlightened, and not a little moved:
 
 
_http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/ci_18936603?source=most_emailed_ 
(http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/ci_18936603?source=most_emailed) 
 
Kind regards
Aidan FC
 
 
Aidan  Foster-Carter 
Honorary Senior Research  Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds 
University, UK 
E: _afostercarter at aol.com_ (mailto:afostercarter at aol.com)      
_afostercarter at yahoo.com_ (mailto:afostercarter at yahoo.com)    W: _www.aidanfc.net_ 
(http://www.aidanfc.net/)      
W in Korea:  
_http://web.archive.org/web/20090202080126/http://aidanfc.net/index.html_ 
(http://web.archive.org/web/20090202080126/http:/aidanfc.net/index.html) 
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