Awarded on 15th April 2022 (delayed from 2020 due to COVID-19).

Lee Jung Nam was born in Gwangju, Korea, a city situated next to Mu Doung Mountain on 9th July in 1936. He studied the traditional Korean martial art of Bong Hwa Kwan at the Jeung Simsa Buddhist Temple in secret from the age of nine. At this time not many people studied traditional martial arts in Korea because the Japanese had occupied Korea since 1907 and had forbidden the study of any Korean martial arts to reduce occupation resistance.

Lee Jung Nam earned his 1st Dan black belt at age 13 in 1944 in Bong Hwa Kwan, which is one of the several styles that evolved into Taekwondo and Hapkido as we know it today. The Japanese occupation ended in 1945 and from then the few Koreans who were experienced in their traditional martial arts by studying in secret, began the long and arduous task of re-establishing martial arts in the Korean culture. Lee Jung Nam was one of these people.

When Lee Jung Nam graduated from Chosun university in 1952, he set up his own Dojang in Gwangju City, but shortly afterwards he became eligible for his stint of compulsory Army service. Whilst in the army he excelled at his training ending up as an instructor in a Special Forces Commando unit which was integral to his exposure to the fledgling Korean arts of Taekwondo and Hapkido whilst in military service. Lee Jung Nam was sent to Vietnam in 1966 to train the South Vietnamese and American Marine Commandos. During his time in Vietnam Lee Jung Nam was awarded the Education Medal from the South Vietnamese government for his services, and later was awarded the In Han Medal and Bronze Star Medal in recognition of his services to Korea.

Lee Jung Nam was originally trained in Hapkido by the founder of Hapkido Grand Master Choi Yong Sul who presided over his Hapkido gradings up to 4th Dan. Lee Jung Nam left the Korean army in 1971 with the rank of captain (special forces) and took up the position of Director of the Bong Hwa Hapkido and Taekwondo Gymnasium in Seoul, Korea. From his time in the army Lee Jung Nam developed quite a reputation for himself as a martial artist of skill, particularly among many of the Americans who had been stationed in Vietnam. When he left the South Korean army the American Taekwondo Association invited Lee Jung Nam to the USA and provided a work visa so that he could teach martial arts. However, at the same time, Lee Jung Nam personally knew the New Zealand ambassador in South Korea and had heard a lot about New Zealand.

Lee Jung Nam, at the grade of 6th Dan, was invited to New Zealand by the then government to train both our army, SAS and police forces in hand-to-hand combat techniques. New Zealand represented a great opportunity to establish and develop Taekwondo and Hapkido in a new country. This "challenge" and the prospect of raising his family in a country with a clean healthy reputation far outweighed the greater financial rewards available in the USA. He arrived in New Zealand in 1975 and began teaching Taekwondo and Hapkido to the New Zealand police, traffic officers, army, air force, prison officers, and women's groups. He started the first New Zealand Hapkido and Taekwondo club at the YMCA in Wellington, and it did not take long for him to establish new clubs by helping his senior students to become instructors around Wellington and the lower North Island. In 1991 Jung Nam Lee moved from Wellington to Auckland to concentrate his efforts in promoting Taekwondo and Hapkido to a larger population base.

Lee Jung Nam was awarded his 9th Degree Blackbelt in both Kuk Jae Hapkido and Taekwondo in 1990 and 1991 respectively, and he is widely recognised as the father of Taekwondo, and Hapkido within New Zealand. He officially retired from Hapkido in 2006 and transferred leadership of Hapkido New Zealand to Callum Forbes. His Hapkido career has spanned over five decades, and eight Hapkido Schools across New Zealand can trace their teaching back to the Hapkido style that Lee Jung Nam brought to these shores.

Unfortunately Grand Master Lee Jung Nam passed away in Auckland on the 6th May 2023 at 87 years old, his Hapkido legacy is now carried on by Callum Forbes.