A Split Korea And A Divided Martial Art: How Politics And Tense International Relations Have Impacted Taekwon-Do

Taekwon-Do is one of the world’s most popular martial arts (despite being a non-mainstream sport). Concurrently, it has been affected by the major international political differences between the communist North Korea and the capitalist South Korea. This has led to the formation of multiple break-away Taekwon-Do organisations. In turn, the sport has expanded, but at the cost of dividing it members to the extent where unification is highly-unlikely. Recently, however, there have been some improvements in the diplomacy between North Korea and South Korea (and its allies), making Taekwon-Do an interesting sport to observe during this uncertain time (e.g., considering the rising threat of atomic strikes from North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme). Thus, guided by the wider themes of resource-based theory (i.e., regarding the macro-level environment and stakeholder issues), the purpose of this book chapter is to shed light on how volatile international relations and geo-political conflicts can have damaging effects on sports. In doing so, these complex factors are unpacked to delve deeper into the role of politics in global sporting environments.