Choi Hong-hi (9 November 1918 – 15 June 2002) was a South Korean Army general, defector to North Korea, and martial artist who was an important figure in the history of the Korean martial art of Taekwondo, albeit controversial due to his attempt to introduce the martial art in North Korea, and his eventual defection to the North in 1979. Choi is regarded by many as the "Founder of Taekwon-Do"—most often by organisations belonging to the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), the first international federation for Taekwondo, which he founded before the World Taekwondo Federation split off in 1973 for political reasons. Others, such as the World Taekwondo Federation, now just World Taekwondo (WT), portray Choi as either an unimportant or a dishonorable figure in taekwondo history, whether by omitting him from their versions of taekwondo history or through explicit statements, due to the aforementioned controversy. Early life Choi was born on 9 November 1918 in Hwa Dae, Myŏngch'ŏn county, in what is now North Korea, which was then under Japanese rule. At the time, the place was named Meigawa-gun (Myongchon-kun), Kankyo-hokudo (Hamgyong-Pukto), Chosen, as part of the Empire of Japan. Choi originally claimed that his father sent him to study calligraphy under Han Il Dong, who was also "a master of Taekkyeon, the ancient Korean art of foot fighting" (Park, 1993, p. 241). He later recanted this story and said that he never studied taekkyeon and that it had nothing to contribute to taekwondo. Choi travelled to Japan, where he studied English, mathematics, and karate. In Kyoto, he met a fellow Korean with the surname Kim, who was a karate instructor and taught Choi this martial art. Choi also learned Shotokan karate under Funakoshi Gichin. Just before he had left Korea, Choi apparently had a disagreement with a wrestler named Hu, and the possibility of a future confrontation inspired him to train; in his own words, "I would imagine that these were the techniques I would use to defend myself against the wrestler, Mr. Hu, if he did attempt to carry out his promise to tear me limb from limb when I eventually returned to Korea" (Park, 1993, p. 242). Choi attained the rank of 1st dan in karate in 1939, and then 2nd dan soon after. Military career Choi was forced to serve in the Japanese army during World War II, but was implicated in a rebellion and imprisoned,