Just a day after Vladimir Putin was personally sanctioned by the Judo governing body – another accolade falls by the wayside. This time it’s the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).
Vladimir Putin has been an actual judo black belt for ages – but he received his taekwondo black belt in spite of never having practiced the art. Putin received the honorary black belt back in 2013 from the WTF (yes, really) president Choue Chung-won.
Putin is not the only politician to have received this accolade. He is joined by former President of United States Donald Trump among the honorary black belts.
According to dailymail – both the South Korean president of Kukkiwon, Lee Dong-seop and Donald Trump gave the following statements:
‘It is my pleasure and honor to receive this honorary certificate. Taekwondo is a great martial art for protecting oneself in these times,’ Trump said.
‘I heard that the Donald Trump is highly interested in taekwondo,’ Lee said.
While Trump was widely mocked for the martial arts honor – Putin was somewhat well respected in the martial arts community.
This move is just the latest personal repercussion for Putin’s decision to enact a war intervention in Ukraine.