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The article originally appearing in the 1967 edition of the BLACK BELT TIMES was written by Grandmaster Kim Soo, the first Korean correspondent to BLACK BELT MAGAZINE.
It reads as follows:
SOUTH VIETNAMESE AIM FOR 100,000 MEMBERS
by Kim Soo
Saigon-- The soldiers from the Republic of Korea have donated a Tae Kwon Do gymnasium to the Vietnam Tae Kwon Do Association. General William Westmoreland, head of the allied forces fighting in Vietnam, attended the opening day ceremonies along with Cao Van Vien, Vietnamese Army Chief of Staff, and Major General Myong Sin of the ROK army.
Korean Karate has become a craze in South Vietnam since the ROK troops arrived in 1966. It is estimated that the number of those taking Tae Kwon Do Karate in that strife-ridden land has jumped from virtually nothing to more than 10,000 students in more than a year.
But this may be only the beginning. The Korean Tae Kwon Do Associaton of Vietnam has set itself the highly ambitious goal of having 100,000 registered members in South Vietnam by the end of this year. Even a quarter of that would make the South Vietnamese the biggest practitioners of Tae Kwon Do in any country outside of Korea. The new Dojo is called Leroy Tae Kwon Do Dojang. It was built by the 3rd engineer corps of the Korean "Pigeon" Division, a crack outfit of fighting men stationed in Vietnam. Opening ceremonies included demonstrations being given by Korean, Vietnamese and American black belters.
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