Haeng Ung Lee
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Haeng Ung ("H.U.") Lee (July 20, 1936 - October 5, 2000) was the founder, president, and first Grand Master of the American Taekwondo Association. Lee was born in Manchuria, China after his family had left Korea. From 1956 to 1959, Lee taught taekwondo to members of the Republic of Korea military. He started a commercial school to teach civilians in 1959. He later opened a school near a U.S. Air Force base, where he instructed and befriended an American serviceman who in 1962 sponsored Lee's emigration to the United States.
Lee moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where in 1969 he founded the American Taekwondo Association. Omaha remained the organization's headquarters until Lee relocated it to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1977. In 1990, the ATA Master's Council awarded Lee the rank of 9th degree black belt and the title of "Grand Master."
In October 2000, Lee died of cancer. Lee's brother Soon Ho was later promoted to 9th degree Grand Master after a period of dissent regarding which 8th degree Chief Master held the most seniority. Even after Soon Ho was made the new Grand Master, there remained fighting behind the scenes. Although Lee's brother became the new Grand Master, the late H.U. Lee's widow, Sun C. Lee, received her late husband's shares in the company and became the new chairman of the board of the ATA. H.U. Lee was posthumously promoted to 10th degree black belt, and given the title "Eternal Grand Master".
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