Dhangadhi. Last February, the Dhangadhi sub-municipality had announced to introduce Taekwondo as a mandatory sport in all the government and private schools’ curriculum of its region.

In the press conference organized, an agreement was signed between Nirpa Bahadur Odd, Mayor of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City, and Pradip Thapa, President of Nepal Taekwondo Association, Far-western province. During the Mayor’s visit to South Korea in January, there were discussions on different exchange and cooperation programs with different organizations based in Korea.

The grassroots development of the Taekwondo Games in the far western region was one of the critical agenda that was expressed by the Sang-Wook Lee, Chairman of the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, Republic of Korea. According to Thapa, ‘We are aiming to Introduce Taekwondo as a mandatory sport in all the private and public schools of Dhangadhi City. In the current Fiscal year, we were planning to start with eight schools from 8 wards and slowly spread to other schools too’.

The association was in discussion with the city regarding the technical, material, and financial supports for the coaches. However, the start of the program has been delayed due to the COVID-19 fear. Mayor of Dhangadhi has expressed his commitment will stay after the crisis.