United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon now has a black belt in taekwondo – but don’t expect him to bust out kicks and blocks at the opening ceremony of the General Assembly in September. In the past, he has said he’s too busy to engage in any hobbies, much less the demanding martial art that originated in his native Korea in the third century.
Typically the ninth degree is the highest level awarded to grandmasters of the martial art’s ranking system. But the South Korean leader has received an honorary 10th degree black belt from the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), which honors influential people for their significant contributions to the sport and to society in general, Reuters reports. WTF’s President Choue presented the honor to Ban in New York City during the third International Forum on Sport for Peace and Development at the U.N. headquarters:
“The black belt is a globally recognized symbol of expertise across the martial arts and awarding it to the Secretary General represents how strongly matched the WTF’s values are with the United Nations. We both understand the enormous value to young people’s lives by using sports to promote Olympism and a healthy lifestyle.”
There have only been two other recipients, including the late former president of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch and its current head Jacques Rogge.
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Will this commendation inspire Ban to start sparring? “Work is his hobby,” one of his colleagues told The Guardian. Ban has openly admitted he doesn’t have time for hobbies, and it’s one of his biggest regrets in life, he told the New York Times in 2006:
“When you ask about hobbies, that’s a question I have difficulty answering,” he said. “I regret, looking back at my life, that I have not been able to cultivate any extracurricular activities like playing tennis or soccer or football. The only sport I do is golf, but in the last three or four years, I have played less than 10 times.”
When he does have down time, he also enjoys reading and listening classical music – although he did get a taste of K-pop when the South Korean rapper Psy (Park Jae-sang) taught him how to do Gangnam Style at the U.N. headquarters in October 2012:
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