Anchor: The World Taekwondo Hanmadang has kicked off this year in South Korea's port city of Pohang, bringing together practitioners from across the globe and revitalizing the martial art. Korean teams are staying true to the festival by showcasing their Taekwondo skills, while introducing a new mix of the martial art with music and dancing.
Our Kim Soyon has more. 
 
Report: The 2014 World Taekwondo Hanmadang, a global festival of the Korean martial art, opened its four-day run on Thursday in South Korea’s port city of Pohang. 
 
Under the slogan, "uniting the world through taekwondo," some six thousand practitioners and officials from 53 countries are taking part in this year’s event at Postech Gymnasium.
 
The participants are showing off their moves in 12 events, including Kyuk-pa breaking, form pattern 'poomsae', self-defense and recording contests.
 
After a demonstration performance, Jeong Man-seo, a member of the Kukkiwon squad explained the trend where Korea's young generation is mixing music and dance with the martial art to form a new genre of taekwondo gymnastics.
 
[Sound bite: Jeong Man-seo - demonstration team member, Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters)] 
"We can turn the taekwondo tradition into a world-class performance."
 
Some 900 practitioners from around the world are taking part in this year's 22nd annual festival.
 
The Iranian women's national team grabbed attention with the members covering their hair with Roosari scarves. 
 
A female pilot from the Sri Lankan Air Force also demonstrated her taekwondo skills.
 
[Sound bite: a Sri Lankan participant of training program at Kukkiwon]
"I've practiced taekwondo for over ten years. It's really helped [my military life.]"
 
Since its inaugural event in 1992, the World Taekwondo Hanmadang has attracted around six thousand participants including officials, practitioners and their families from over 50 countries each year. The global event is a showcase of a wide array of taekwondo positions, techniques and skills.
Kim Soyon, KBS World Radio News.