Lee Kyu-seok was first elected as the continental union's President in 2013 ©WT Asia

Lee Kyu-seok has been re-elected unopposed for a third term as World Taekwondo Asia (WT Asia) President during elections held at the continental body's Extraordinary General Assembly.

Prior to the election, Lee said he would "do my best to strengthen the unity and fellowship" with member nations, and targeted growth in poomsae taekwondo, including maintaining its presence at the Asian Games after its debut at Jakarta-Palembang 2018.

Lee became WT Asia President in November 2013 when the organisation was known as the Asian Taekwondo Union, having previously served as secretary general for more than two decades from 1984 to 2006, and again from 2009 to 2013.

The South Korean has also been vice-president at the international governing body World Taekwondo since 2017, and his third term as WT Asia President will run until 2025.

Lee is 79, with 80 being the maximum age for those seeking re-election.

The limit for first-time candidates is 70.

Lee's compatriot Yang Jin-bang has been elected as one of the three male vice-presidents of the WT Asia, having assumed the role of President at the Korea Taekwondo Association in January of this year.

Lee Kyu-seok hopes to maintain poomsae taekwondo's presence at the Asian Games ©WT Asia
Lee Kyu-seok hopes to maintain poomsae taekwondo's presence at the Asian Games ©WT Asia

Ngoc De Truong of Vietnam and Seyed Mohammad Pouladgar of Iran have been re-elected to their vice-presidential positions, but other incumbents Abubakr Abdullatif K Kordi of Saudi Arabia and Ifitikhar Ahmad Tabassum of Pakistan lost their roles, while Yemen's Moafak Mohammed Abdullah Monasser was unsuccessful with his bid to become a vice-president.

Lebanon's Carine Lahoud assumed a vice-presidential post as the woman with the most votes in the Council election.

Three other women were elected to the Council in Bahrain's Fajar Albinali, Jordan's Nancy Adnan El-Hindi and Japan's Yoriko Okamoto.

WT Asia rules dictate that at least one-third of the Council's members must be women.

The remaining seven Council positions were filled by South Korea's Lee Kyung-bae, the Philippines' Stephen V Fernandez, Rajendran Muthusamy of Malaysia, Arman Chilmanov from Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates' Zayed Khalifa Alsuwaidi, Chinese Taipei's Chang Huo-Lu and Prakash Shumsher Rana from Nepal.

Palestinian Fadi Jaser Taher Hussein, Kuwait's Hani Ali Almershad, Namdev Sampat Hirgaonkar of India, Pakistan's Raja Wasim Ahmed and Shareef Dirky of Syria failed to gain election to the Council.

South Korean Kim Young-gap was elected as the only contender for the auditor role.

The Extraordinary General Assembly took place online, ahead of tomorrow's World Taekwondo General Assembly.

Lee is a World Taekwondo vice-president by virtue of leading WT Asia.

WT Asia has 43 affiliated member national associations.