N.Korea used taekwondo group to plot murder

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea infiltrated an international taekwondo group, using it as a front to send out spies and plot the killing of a South Korean president who ruled for much of the 1980s, newspapers said on Tuesday.

The Korea Times quoted Choi Jung-hwa, son of the late Choi Hong-hi who founded the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) in 1966, as saying North Korea ordered overseas ITF masters, including himself, to assassinate President Chun Doo Hwan.

"After taking control of the ITF, the North trained spies and sent them overseas, disguising them as taekwondo masters," the Korea Times quoted Choi as telling reporters on his return to South Korea on Monday after living overseas for 34 years.

The Korea Times quoted Choi as saying he plotted to kill Chun on a visit to Canada in 1982, but Canadian police got wind of the plan and Choi fled to North Korea.

An official at South Korea's culture ministry had no comment. Choi Jung-hwa could not be reached for immediate comment on the media coverage.

Long-viewed with suspicion in South Korea, the ITF's structure is fragmented, with different groups in Austria and Canada claiming Choi Hong-hi's heritage after his death in 2002.

Choi senior fell out of favour with then South Korean President Park Chung-hee in the 1970s, exiling himself to Canada and taking with him his International Taekwondo Federation, which had built up a widespread international membership.

In 1973, the separate and unrelated World Taekwondo Federation sprang up in South Korea, rivalling the ITF and gaining huge popularity.

WTF club memberships in South Korea dwarf ITF memberships, although ITF-style taekwondo enjoys greater popularity abroad.