Jun Hyeog Lee

Jun Lee is a Korean American Taekwondo Grandmaster 9th dan and the founder of Black Belt World, a Taekwondo school of the Korean Martial Arts. He has been referred to as one of the top ten martial artists in the United States. He holds the world record for breaking 5,000 one-inch thick boards in seven hours. The Kukkiwon named Grandmaster Lee its spokesperson for International affairs on February 22, 2021.

In 2011, Jun Lee ran for mayor of Knightdale against the incumbent, Russell Killen.  Endorsed by the Democratic party, Jun Lee faced a steep challenge in trying to unseat a popular mayor in a town that saw organized parties “as glorified political mafias.”

Beginning in 2002, Grandmaster Jun Lee travelled to North Korea in the hopes that one day the two Koreas will be united, democratic, and free. But for now, Grandmaster Lee is building bridges through his generosity, Taekwondo, and his love of liberty.

Master testing for fifth degree and higher dans had always been done behind closed doors. Jun Lee decided to change the tradition. On November 23, 1997, Jun Lee tested for his seventh degree (7th dan) before an audience of his students and Taekwondo Grandmasters. This was the first World Taekwondo sanctioned seventh-degree black conducted in the United States. Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, Grandmaster Woo Jin Chung, Grandmaster Dong Jin Kim, Grandmaster K.S. Lee, and Grandmaster Won Ik Yi were the examiners.

Jun Lee and his brother Hyeon Lee believed that the Research Triangle area in North Carolina would be an ideal location to open a dojang. The Triangle was a growing area of educated middle to upper-class families, who would be keener on and better able to afford Taekwondo lessons. In February 1987, Jun Lee left Virginia and moved to Raleigh.

In 1982, Jun Lee was attending University of Seoul majoring in International Economics and emigrated to America to further his studies at George Mason University in Washington, DC. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Science in Economics.

In middle school, Jun Lee met Master Kang, who was his first Taekwondo master. Master Kang ran the Oh Do Kwan Dojang in Gochang. Jun Lee became one of Kang's top students, earning his black belt at the age of 13. In the early 1970s with the Vietnam war winding down, many young Korean Taekwondo masters immigrated to the United States, including Jun Lee’s older brother, Hyeon Kon Lee. Hyeon Kon Lee opened one of the first Taekwondo dojangs in Virginia.

Jun Lee was born on November 17, 1962, in the village of Ansan, Gochang County in the North Jeolla Province located in the Southwest of the Republic of Korea. He was the third of six sons. His father, Inkyu Lee, was a civil servant and local politician. His mother, Yo Soon Lee, was a housewife. Jun Lee spent most of his childhood on a small farm.