Uruguay
WT
Taekwondo arrived in Uruguay through Korean masters who settled in Montevideo during the second half of the 1970s, in parallel with the regional diffusion process led by General Choi Hong Hi and the Korean diaspora community across South America. The Uruguayan Taekwondo Federation (FUT) was formally founded in the 1980s and today is affiliated with World Taekwondo (WT) and the Uruguayan Olympic Committee (COU). The country has been a constant participant in Pan American circuits, although it has yet to reach an Olympic podium. The strength of Uruguayan TKD lies in its grassroots structure, with active practitioners in both poomsae and kyorugi.
Pioneers
The first dojangs: TKD arrives in Montevideo
The Korean diaspora of the Río de la Plata plants TKD's roots in Uruguay
Taekwondo arrived in Uruguay during the second half of the 1970s, carried by the same Korean immigration wave that had already taken root in neighbouring Argentina. Unlike Buenos Aires, where the Korean community was concentrated in hundreds of thousands, Montevideo received a smaller but equally passionate contingent of Korean instructors who opened the first dojangs in the city between 1976 and 1980. The transmission was organic: Korean families settling in Uruguay brought their masters with them, and Uruguayan students joined their training halls driven by curiosity about this dynamic and structured martial art.
The founding dynamic differed from what occurred across the Río de la Plata. While in Argentina the TKD arrived more formally through General Choi's direct mission in 1967, in Uruguay the WT-line TKD grew bottom-up — through the personal initiative of Korean immigrants and their Uruguayan disciples. By the early 1980s, the first generation of Uruguayan black belts was being formed, laying the institutional foundations that would soon lead to the creation of a national federation.
Federation
The Uruguayan Taekwondo Federation and institutionalization
FUT affiliated with WT and COU — the first open national championships
Between 1986 and 1990, the organisational efforts of the first Uruguayan black belts culminated in the foundation of the Federación Uruguaya de Taekwondo (FUT). Affiliating with the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) — later renamed World Taekwondo (WT) — and with the Comité Olímpico Uruguayo (COU) gave the sport institutional legitimacy and opened access to PATU (Pan American Taekwondo Union) competitions. The FUT rapidly became the sole governing body recognised by the state and the Olympic movement for WT TKD in Uruguay.
With official backing consolidated, the FUT organised the first open national championships, bringing together practitioners from Montevideo and the interior of the country. Uruguay began competing at the Pan American level, sending delegations to regional tournaments and establishing the federative infrastructure — referees, coaches, belt-grading committees — that would sustain the sport's growth over the following decades. From this base, Uruguay would progressively enter the Pan American Games circuit.
Olympic Era
Uruguay in the Pan American and world circuit
Uninterrupted presence at Pan American Games — Olympic qualification as the 2028 goal
Since the 2003 Santo Domingo Pan American Games, Uruguay has maintained uninterrupted participation in the Pan American Games circuit, competing in every edition through Santiago 2023. Although no medals have been achieved in kyorugi at the Games, the Uruguayan delegation has consolidated experience across multiple weight categories and has grown its poomsae programme significantly, which has become a competitive area of increasing importance. Each cycle brings better-prepared athletes and a broader support structure.
With Los Angeles 2028 as the next horizon, the FUT has set Olympic qualification as its central strategic goal. Uruguay competes regularly on the WT ranking circuit — G1 and G2 Opens, Grand Prix, and continental championships — accumulating Olympic ranking points. The growth of poomsae at international level and the emergence of young athletes under 23 offer the most promising pathway toward Uruguayan TKD's first Olympic appearance.
Keep exploring
The history of Taekwondo continues in every dojang, every class, every student.