Hero Athletes of the DPRK (6)
Labour Hero Jang Kyong Ok
Labour Hero Jang Kyong Ok
She is Labour Hero and People's Athlete.
Born into an ordinary family in Kosong County of Kangwon Province, she was unusually fond of sports from her childhood and was estimated by teachers as a promising volleyball player already in her middle school days.
One day she was greatly shocked to see our Taekwon-Do players proving successful in an international game and made a determination to become a Taekwon-Do player demonstrating the dignity and stamina of the nation all over the world.
She repeated training to complete even one technical movement, making exact demands on herself. As a result, she prepared herself as a good player who can fully play the games of diverse events including pattern, sparring and demonstration in less than two years after she started to learn Taekwon-Do. At last, she took part in the Seventh Taekwon-Do World Championships in August Juche 79(1990).
She took part in the championships for the first time but struck the experts and amateurs with wonder by displaying her high technique and stubborn fighting spirit.
During the Eighth Taekwon-Do World Championships, she participated in the women's team sparring event as the first player of her team and defeated the Canadian rival who played by force believing in her husky body with technical superiority, thus making a breakthrough for victory.
In over 70-kilogram event of women's individual sparring of the Eleventh Taekwon-Do World Championships, she beat the Argentinian opponent 10 kilograms heavier than herself and thus became a superstar considerable in the world Taekwon-Do circles.
After finishing her career as a player, she graduated from the Korea University of Physical Education, became a Taekwon-Do coach and trained over 20 People's Athletes and Merited Athletes.
At present, Jang Kyong Ok is active as the head of a department of the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee.