Chuncheon has been selected as World Taekwondo's preferred location for its new headquarters ©World Taekwondo

World Taekwondo has selected Chuncheon in South Korea as its preferred city to shift its headquarters to, beating competition from Gimpo.

The governing body is currently based in South Korea's capital Seoul, but opened a bid process overseen by a specially created ad-hoc Evaluation Committee chaired by World Taekwondo treasurer Pimol Srivikorn to seek a new headquarters.

Chuncheon and Gimpo were invited to further their proposals in February, completing their bids and questionnaires by last Monday (April 17).

Members of the Evaluation Committee visited Chuncheon on Tuesday (April 18) and Gimpo on Wednesday (April 19) before holding evaluation meetings to select a preferred candidate.

Chuncheon was selected on the basis of the city's strong taekwondo heritage and high scores across the evaluation criteria of sustainability, suitability, facility infrastructure and expected impact.

An ad-hoc Evaluation Committee visited Chuncheon and Gimpo last week to assess its bids for the new World Taekwondo headquarters ©World Taekwondo
An ad-hoc Evaluation Committee visited Chuncheon and Gimpo last week to assess its bids for the new World Taekwondo headquarters ©World Taekwondo

The city, capital of the Gangwon Province which is due to host next year's Winter Youth Olympics, was awarded the 2024 World Taekwondo Junior Championships earlier this year.

It also held last year's Asian Taekwondo Championships.

Final details on the new headquarters, including location, construction, rights and responsibilities, financial support and design, are set to be agreed between World Taekwondo and Chuncheon by July 28.

An official contract signing ceremony is scheduled for August.

World Taekwondo moved to the Booyoung Taepyung building in the heart of Seoul's business district in 2019 after leaving its former premises which overlooked the Gyeongbok Palace.