KOICA to establish Taekwondo Dojan at Police Academy

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) will finance USD 165,000 to establish a state-of-the-art Taekwondo Dojan at the Dar es Salaam Police Academy (DPA) in an initiative to build the capacity of the academy.

The project, expected to be completed in 2015, is the initiative of the late Master OH Jongse, a taekwondo master from Korea who was dispatched to the Dar es Salaam Police Academy by KOICA under its World Friends Korea volunteer program to serv
e as a taekwondo instructor.

Unfortunately, Master OH Jongse passed away from malaria before finalising the implementation of the project.

'KOICA decided to implement the project in memory of their volunteer and to strengthen their relationship with the Dar es Salaam Police Academy,' said Kim Seungbeom, the Resident Representative of KOICA Tanzania, speaking on behalf of the agency.

Taekwondo is one of the most effective forms of martial arts in the world and it improves strength, fitness and flexibility.

'We have found taekwondo stretching tough, but the results are great,' said one of late Master OH’s students.

During the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the KOICA and the Dar es Salaam Police Academy for the implementation of the project, the DPA commandant, SACP Ally Lugendo, said that the project will help to increase the number of trainees who will receive taekwondo training at the DPA, and the dojan will serve as a space for additional martial arts training for the Police.

KOICA is an agency of the Government of the Republic of Korea responsible for implementing the government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) and technical cooperation programs in developing countries.