In 1972, Choi went into exile in Canada after the South Korean government refused to allow his organisation to teach taekwondo in North Korea.

The South Korea government formed the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in 1973 to be independent from Choi. They renamed the WTF to WT in 2018 in response to ‘WTF’ becoming funny.

In 1979, Choi traveled and defected to North Korea where he was welcomed by the government and supported in his project of spreading Taekwondo to the world.

Choi died of cancer on 15 June 2002 in Pyongyang, North Korea, where he received a state funeral in the Patriotic Martyrs’ Cemetery.