The 2027 Virtual Taekwondo World Championships will take place at Taekwondo Won in Muju, North Jeolla Province.

World Taekwondo (WT) signed a host city agreement for the "Muju Taekwondo Won 2027 World Taekwondo Virtual Championships" at Taekwondo Won, alongside the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, the Korea Taekwondo Association, and Muju County.

The tournament is scheduled to be held in June next year.

The agreement signing ceremony was attended by WT President Choue Chung-won, WT Vice President and Korea Taekwondo Association President Yang Jin-bang, and Taekwondo Promotion Foundation Chairman Kim Joong-헌 (Kim Joong-hun).

Virtual Taekwondo is a new form of Taekwondo competition that combines actual physical movement with virtual reality (VR) and motion tracking technology.

It is conducted in a format where athletes' movements are reflected in a virtual competition environment in real time to compete against opponents.

Virtual Taekwondo made its international debut through the Olympic Esports Week held in Singapore in 2023.

Subsequently, the first World Taekwondo Virtual Championships were held in Singapore in 2024.

On October 2, it will be held as one of the official medal events for Taekwondo at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

This marks the first time that Virtual Taekwondo will be held as an official medal event at a major international comprehensive sporting event, including the Asian Games.

In this year's competition, 16 athletes will compete in a single-elimination tournament format for the title of inaugural champion.

President Choue Chung-won stated, "Starting with the Asian Games, we are continuing discussions to adopt Virtual Taekwondo as an official event in major international multi-sport events such as the European Games, and we plan to expand the participation stage to various international competitions, including the World University Games, in the future."

The 2027 Muju event is scheduled to be the third World Taekwondo Virtual Championships.

Meanwhile, WT announced that it is currently reviewing various options regarding the second tournament to be held at the end of this year.

(Photo provided by World Taekwondo, Yonhap News)