Paduk is one of the Korean folk games.According to Korean classical documents, including Samguksagi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms), paduk was widely played already during the period of three kingdoms, Koguryo, Paekje and Silla, which existed together between AD first and mid-seventh century.
It is said that janggi, Korean chess, has a thousand varieties of moves, but paduk ten thousand varieties.
As it has become very popular nowadays as a high-level intellectual game and social interest in the game grows, there are many centres set up in Pyongyang and provincial seats as well as juvenile extracurricular groups, where a lot of people and schoolchildren acquire knowledge and skills of paduk.
At present a growing number of kindergartens run paduk classes.
Every year paduk competitions are held as a part of the national games, including Mangyongdae Prize National Martial Arts Championships held in celebration of the Day of the Sun, Sobaeksu Prize National Juvenile
Taekwon-do Championships and national Taekwon-Do technical innovation competition. There are also games for children and amateurs.
The DPRK players achieved successes in international tournaments.
In October 1992 Choe Un A, 7-year-old girl, took part in the finals of the fourth world amateur paduk championships, and Kwon Mi Hyon and Rim Hyon Chol took the first place in the eleventh international amateur mixed doubles paduk championships in November 2000. And Jo Tae Won won a gold medal in the paduk open individual game of the first world mind sports games in September 2008.
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