The writings of early taekwondo pioneers promote peace through the practice of the martial art and, later, the combat sport. These pioneers charged taekwondo practitioners with a duty to contribute to justice, defend the weak, and build a more peaceful world. National and international taekwondo organizations such as the Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo (WT), and the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) have taken up the charge of peace promotion through taekwondo by means of transnational events, such as goodwill tours and joint taekwondo demonstrations by adversarial states (e.g., South and North Korea). These activities are soft diplomacy initiatives and have seen some level of success. While these soft diplomacy activities are in line with the goal of peace promotion that the early pioneers advocated, they are qualitatively different from what the pioneers advocated. Originally, the responsibility of peace promotion was on the individual taekwondo practitioner, who ought to cultivate moral character, courage, and martial art skill in order to uphold justice and defend the weak. With the current use of taekwondo for soft diplomacy, the responsibility of peace promotion has shifted from the individual practitioner to the governing bodies, such as WT and the ITF. Instead of focusing on issues surrounding justice and the protection of the weak, these national and international organizations focus on geopolitical cooperation, which is mediated through cultural exchange activities in the form of taekwondo demonstrations. These events involve activities such as acrobatic performances, dance routines, and board breaking that require little combat skill and may not pose the risk of serious injury to the individual practitioners, mainstays of the individual heroes of old. The charge to safeguard justice and physically defend the weak, which are acts of true courage as was envisioned by the taekwondo pioneers, is mostly ignored.

中文翻译：

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从个人英雄到国家表演者：跆拳道和平促进活动的转变

早期跆拳道先驱者的著作通过练习武术以及后来的格斗运动来促进和平。这些先驱者责成跆拳道练习者有责任为正义做出贡献，保护弱者，建设一个更加和平的世界。国际跆拳道协会、世界跆拳道协会（WT）、国际跆拳道联盟（ITF）等国内外跆拳道组织通过亲善旅游、跆拳道联合展示等跨国活动，担负起通过跆拳道促进和平的重任敌对国家（例如韩国和朝鲜）。这些活动是软外交举措，并取得了一定程度的成功。这些软外交活动虽然符合先行者倡导的促进和平的目标，它们在性质上与先驱者所倡导的不同。本来，促进和平的责任在跆拳道个人身上，应该培养道德、勇气和武术，以维护正义，保护弱者。随着目前跆拳道在软外交中的应用，促进和平的责任已经从个人实践者转移到了 WT 和 ITF 等管理机构。这些国家和国际组织不关注围绕正义和保护弱者的问题，而是关注地缘政治合作，通过跆拳道表演形式的文化交流活动进行调解。这些活动包括杂技表演、舞蹈套路、以及几乎不需要战斗技巧并且可能不会对个体从业者构成严重伤害的风险，这是古代个体英雄的中流砥柱。跆拳道先驱者所设想的捍卫正义和身体保护弱者的行为是真正的勇气行为，但大多被忽视了。