It will extend the existing relationship between the sport’s governing body and the channel, who are one of the top three terrestrial broadcasters in South Korea.

Their previous deal was from 2015 to 2016, but the new agreement will extend the partnership by a further four years.

WTF President Chungwon Choue, who signed the deal with SBS Sports chief executive Gyehong Kim in Seoul, was pleased by the prospect of working with the broadcaster.

"Some 400 million TV viewers in 17 nations watched Olympic taekwondo at Rio in 2016, which suggests a massive global appetite for televised taekwondo," said Choue, quoting figures provided by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

"Now, it is up to us in the WTF to deliver ever-better taekwondo events - in terms of fairness and transparency, dazzle and excitement - for the cameras of SBS Sports and our host broadcasters."

Under the agreement, SBS Sports will film and broadcast the WTF’s Grand Prix series, World Championships and World Team Championships to viewers across South Korea, the martial art's spiritual home. 

The first event to be covered under the contract will be the Grand Prix Series 1 event in August 2017.

The World Team Championships in December 2020 is expected to be the last event covered.

SBS Sports previously worked on the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic taekwondo and archery competitions, with the WTF praising their credentials.

The governing body have stated, however, that events in South Korea will be subject to a bidding process between SBS Sports and major terrestrial broadcasters.

"Since we started working with the WTF in 2015, we have witnessed tremendous development of content in the taekwondo space," said Kim.

"With the trust we have built up with the WTF, we are delighted to extend this partnership for another four years."