Grand Master Ahn Gun Soon occupies a central place in the international history of Kangdukwon. He first trained in the same Kwangju Jaeil High School dojang as Hwa Chong, under the direct instruction of Kangdukwon co-founders Jong Pyo Hong and Chul Hee Park. Their shared formation later produced two distinct but complementary international branches.
Vietnam, 1966
In 1966, while serving as a captain in the Republic of Korea Army, Ahn Gun Soon was assigned to Vietnam. Together with Captain Kim Tae Sup, he taught taekwondo to Vietnamese troops. Among the trainees was Nguyễn Kim Châu, then a young serviceman, who would become the leading bearer of the Kangdukwon tradition in Vietnam.
Ahn Gun Soon’s work in Vietnam was not an incidental episode. It established one of the principal international lineages of Kangdukwon.
From 1966 through 1969, the training given by Korean military instructors planted a tradition that Vietnamese practitioners maintained under exceptionally difficult conditions. Nguyễn Kim Châu and succeeding teachers continued the line, eventually reconnecting it formally with the World Kangdukwon Federation.
Reunion of Kangdukwon branches
The later recognition of Nguyễn Kim Châu and Kang Duk Won Moo Do by the World Kangdukwon Federation brought together branches that began with two former dojang companions: Ahn Gun Soon in Vietnam and Hwa Chong in the United States. This reunion also expressed a broader reconciliation among Korean, Vietnamese and American practitioners whose lives had been shaped by the Vietnam War era.
Ahn’s role now appears prominently in the redesigned site’s homepage, history timeline and Vietnam country hub. Readers can continue with Kangdukwon in Vietnam, WKF recognizes and salutes Kangdukwon in Vietnam, and Kangdukwon: A Worldwide Family.