Paraguayan Ambassador Ceferino Valdez sent off four South Koreans on Monday to his home country for seven weeks as part of a South Korean government program to promote the martial art of taekwondo, as well as Korean culture and language.

The youths are Taekwondo Peace Corps volunteers armed with the desire of promoting friendly relations between South Korea and the South American country. They are part of a program now in its fifth year that has dispatched hundreds of young people since its inception to dozens of countries around the world.

The volunteers are: Ryu Tae-woo, 19, a fourth-degree black belt; Hwang Hye-jeong, 21, a Spanish-Korean interpreter from Busan National University; Kim Se-bom, 23, a fifth-degree black belt; and Lee Min-hyeong, 20, a Korean language and culture major at a Korean university.

Valdez said he was proud to help build international understanding especially when it also provided opportunities for young people to see the world.

The idea of a Taekwondo Peace Corps was first introduced by World Taekwondo Federation President Choue Chunwon at an international workshop on sports and peace in Leuven, Belgium, in September 2007. The idea is based on the belief that sports can be a catalyst to bring people together.

The program was launched the following year under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. At that time, 27 young people volunteered to go to five countries. Since then, hundreds have participated in the program and visited dozens of countries around the world.

Paraguay was among the first five countries, along with China, Russia, India and Pakistan, to which youths were dispatched teaching Korea’s national sport, culture and language, and promote friendly relations and international understanding.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)