News

Beyond Ping-Pong Diplomacy
By Karin Lee. Edited by Erik Leaver, July 30, 2008
You may wonder why the second week of October 2007 was proclaimed “National Tae Kwon Do Week” in Cedar Rapids Iowa.  Here’s one good reason: That week, in the middle of a Cedar Rapids auditorium... (read more)

Making History through Martial Arts
By Justin Foss, Reporter KCRG
Cedar Rapids - Wednesday night, the Paramount Theater acted as a simple backdrop to a major event, a Tae Kwon Do demonstration, between the United States and North Korea. "Well, as you know, our two countries do not have good relations," said George Vitale, a master instructor from New York... (Read more)

Tae kwon do diplomacy
By Chris Jansing, NBC News correspondent and MSNBC anchor
Much of what will be written about the North Korean tae kwon do team's trip to the United States will inevitably be about international relations:• Will this be "pingpong diplomacy" for the 21st century, opening a new era in U.S.-North Korean relations?(read more)

Is North Korean visit martial arts diplomacy?
By Kari Huus, Reporter, MSNBC
In a visit already drawing comparisons to the "ping pong diplomacy" between the U.S. and China in the 1970s, a team of North Korean masters of the martial art tae kwon do is expected to arrive in Los Angeles on Thursday for an unprecedented 13-day American tour... (read more)

PMS welcomes rare visitors from North Korea
Sports expected to improve relations on martial arts goodwill tour... (read more)