[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]An extraordinary WTF Council meeting was held today at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand with the attendance of 25 Council members and two auditors.

WTF President Chungwon Choue opened the meeting by thanking Dr. Nat Indrapana, the IOC member from Thailand, and Mr. Pimol Srivikorn, president of the Taekwondo Association of Thailand, for their great efforts in preparations for the meeting. Dr. Choue congratulated the two new WTF Council members - Mr. Sung-chon Hong and Mr. Jonathan Nnaji.

In his opening speech, WTF President Choue summarized all the activities taken by the WTF since its last Council meeting in Bhutan in October last year. He also introduced major points of the Olympic Agenda 2020, which have been unanimously approved by the IOC.

The Council approved all the amendment proposals on the WTF Competition Rules, the WTF Ranking Bylaw, the WTF Para-Taekwondo and Deaf-Taekwondo Classification Rules and Regulations, the WTF Statutes and the Bylaws of Dispute Resolution & Disciplinary Actions.

The Council also selected Samsun, Turkey as the host city of the 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series 2, replacing Doha, Qatar, which has recently withdrawn from hosting.

During the progress report on the para-taekwondo movements, Dr. Choue committed to making taekwondo a sport for athletes of all impairments. This commitment will be honored regardless of the upcoming decision by the IPC Governing Board on whether or not taekwondo is included on the program of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Following the approval of the IOC on full membership for the Kosovo Olympic Committee, the Council also approved putting on the agenda of the WTF General Assembly the approval of full membership of the Kosovo Taekwondo Federation.

Before closing the meeting, Dr. Choue announced that he made the difficult decision to dismiss Dr. Jean-Marie Ayer from his position as WTF Secretary General. He said the decision was made, due to a structural situation where the secretary general in Lausanne, Switzerland and the WTF secretariat in Korea are located far away from each other, causing administrative inefficiencies. Choue said that the WTF needs to react fast and effectively in a situation in which the world of sports is moving fast.

Dr. Choue assured the Council attendees that the WTF office in Lausanne will stay as it is and Dr. Ayer will continue a relationship with the WTF.

In closing the meeting, Dr. Choue said that the WTF should move forward and make taekwondo a sport more marketable, more accessible to all and achieve good governance. Dr. Choue urged changes by quoting a passage from the speech of IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach: “We are now in a position to drive change ourselves rather than being driven.”

The next WTF Council meeting will take place on May 10, 2015 in Chelyabinsk, Russia in conjunction with the 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships.

Early on the same day, a WTF Expansion Committee meeting was held, with attendance of the representatives of the Continental Unions to deal with the update to the Global Membership System and the ranking systems of WTF National Associations.