Korea Times
''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacturer ...
''. November 1, 2012. born November 29, 1946), known as Y.K. Kim, is a Korean-born
taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
martial artist who resides in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Kim was the producer and main actor of the film ''
Miami Connection
''Miami Connection'' is a 1987 independent martial arts film starring Y.K. Kim, who also wrote and produced the feature. Originally, the film was critically maligned and received poor box office return upon release. It remained unseen for deca ...
''. He also publishes ''Martial Arts World Magazine'',"Petrosexuals." ''
Riverfront Times
The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') is a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri, that consists of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galler ...
''. January 4, 2006. p 2 Retrieved on February 12, 2013. a quarterly magazine for professionals in the martial arts,Argetsinger, Amy and Roxanne Roberts.
''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. Sunday April 23, 2006. Retrieved on February 12, 2013. "Sen. George Allen's little-known life as a taekwondo aficionado was exposed in an exclusive interview this month in Martial Arts World, a quarterly magazine for professionals." and "Key excerpts of a five-page interview with Publisher Y. K. Kim:" and wrote the book ''Winning Is a Choice''.
Early life
Kim received a taekwondo black belt at age 13, making him among the youngest in Korea to do so. At first, he studied and taught in Korea, and in 1976 he moved to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, and taught there. In 1977, he moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and to
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
a year later, where he opened Y.K. Kim's TaeKwon-Do, his first taekwondo school.
*"Milestones: At age 13, was among youngest in Korea to achieve black belt in TaeKwon-Do. Studied and taught TaeKwon-Do in Korea until 1976, when he moved to Buenos Aires to teach the martial art. Moved to New York in 1977 and then to Orlando in 1978, where he opened his first school, Y.K. Kim's TaeKwon-Do."
*"Some of oon Kims first students opened the other Central Florida schools bearing his name. Although Kim claims ownership in only the East Colonial Drive school, all Y.K. Kim's are united under the American TaeKwon-Do Federation, an association founded by Kim that sets the rules and philosophies of the schools." The school became the Martial Arts World, a franchise that Erin Sullivan of the ''
Orlando Weekly
''Orlando Weekly'' is a liberal progressive alternative newsweekly distributed in the Greater Orlando area of Florida. Every Thursday, 40,000 issues of the paper are distributed to more than 1,100 locations across Orange, Osceola and Seminole coun ...
'' described as "the
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
Orlando Weekly
''Orlando Weekly'' is a liberal progressive alternative newsweekly distributed in the Greater Orlando area of Florida. Every Thursday, 40,000 issues of the paper are distributed to more than 1,100 locations across Orange, Osceola and Seminole coun ...
''. December 12, 2012. Retrieved on February 12, 2013. The school was originally on Robinson Street, then on Mills Avenue, then its current location on Colonial Drive. As of 1988, Kim only claimed ownership of the East Colonial Drive school. As of then, the other schools are part of the American TaeKwon-Do Federation, which Kim founded. The federation establishes the philosophies and rules used by the schools within the federation.
Career
In the mid-1980s, Korean film director Richard Park met Kim after seeing Kim interviewed on the Korean talk show ''Meet at 11 p.m.'' ('' 11시에 만납시다'') and the two agreed to produce a film, ''
Miami Connection
''Miami Connection'' is a 1987 independent martial arts film starring Y.K. Kim, who also wrote and produced the feature. Originally, the film was critically maligned and received poor box office return upon release. It remained unseen for deca ...
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
''. November 8, 2012. Retrieved on December 1, 2012. The film's production almost bankrupted Kim. In the meantime, he established his business and became a motivational speaker. In 2012, the
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...
redistributed ''Miami Connection'', leading to a positive reception and subsequent
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
.
Other ventures
In 2002, Kim and
Choung Byoung-gug
Choung Byoung-gug (born 10 February 1958) is a South Korean politician and the former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He was the leader of the centre-right Bareunmirae Party, and Chairman of the Special Committee on the 4th Industrial ...
, a legislator in Korea, proposed a Korea pavilion at
Epcot
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
. "Too similar? A former Epcot official says a Korea pavilion would be too much like Asian exhibits such as China's. But a backer argued, 'Koreans have better food ... and superior martial arts.'"
Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
''. October 11, 1987. Orange Sentinel South p. 19.