Delegations from Nepal and the WTF meet ahead of the visit to the refugee camp ©WTF

A World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) delegation led by the body's President Chungwon Choue has met with Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli in Kathmandu ahead of a visit to local refugee camps.

Choue's visit comes as part of the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) programme in which it is hoped assistance will be provided to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the devastating 2015 earthquake in the Asian nation.

Oli, a member of the Communist Party of Nepal who assumed his post in October, thanked the delegation for their visit, noting that Nepal is moving forward on the sports front.

One of either taekwondo, volleyball or cricket is to be chosen as a national sport to be prioritised in schools, with Choue suggesting that his sport may offer the best opportunity for international success.

He then presented the Prime Minister with an honorary ninth-degree black belt.

WTF President meeting Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli during his visit ©WTF
WTF President meeting Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli during his visit ©WTF

Choue was joined by a high-power delegation including Asian Taekwondo Union President Kyu-seok Lee, European Taekwondo Union counterpart Athanasios Pragalos and Oceania Taekwondo Union head John Kotsifas.

The visit is predominantly a fact-finding prior to establishing a THF programme for displaced persons in Nepal.

Taekwondo uniforms and equipment will also be donated to earthquake victims. 

“At this stage, we have some ideas and I am confident that once we have met senior officials and visit the earthquake-hit areas, we can deliver pragmatic, workable programs,” said Choue.

“We look forward to viewing the situation on the ground and seeing, at first hand, how the THF can assist the Nepalese people.”

This will follow two Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and one in Turkey.

The THF has also been boosted this week by news that WTF treasurer John Walker will donate the profits of a music album he recorded to the project.

WTF treasurer John Walker has written a song for the THF project ©WTF
WTF treasurer John Walker has written a song for the THF project ©WTF

Walker, also chair of WTF Marketing Committee, is a prominent banker as well as a practicing martial artist, a published children’s book author and a singer-songwriter.

Flying Butterflies, a song on Walker’s new Rain Dreaming album, was specially written as the theme song for the THF following a launch in the Gangnam district of Seoul.

“The refugee crisis facing the world today is one of the greatest challenges in history and it will require both the hardware and software of aid to resolve," Walker said.

"The THF is an important contribution to the software of aid where children can be helped see that there is a future and that values and education can help provide this future.

"I am really keen for Rain Dreaming to play its part in providing that better future."