MoonSung Lee, 1939-2025: Fifty Years in Astoria
He opened a taekwondo school in Astoria, Queens in 1972 and ran it for more than fifty years. No franchise, no second location, no seminar circuit. One neighbourhood, five decades, and a school that outlived him.
- Born
- 7 August 1939, Seoul, Korea
- Died
- 23 June 2025, Plainview, New York, age 85
- Rank
- 9th degree grandmaster
- Founded
- Moon S. Lee Taekwondo Institute, Astoria, 1972 — later Strong Martial Arts
- Also
- Founding member, U.S. Taekwondo Grandmasters Society
MoonSung Lee emigrated from Seoul and built his career entirely in New York City. The Moon S. Lee Taekwondo Institute opened in Astoria in 1972 and continued, later under the name Strong Martial Arts, for over fifty years. He was a founding member of the U.S. Taekwondo Grandmasters Society.
His wake was held on 26 June 2025 at Promise Church in College Point, and he was buried the following day at Pinelawn Cemetery in Farmingdale.
What a school owner should take from MoonSung Lee
Fifty years in one neighbourhood means he taught the children of his first students, and in some cases their children. That is the compounding asset in this business, and it is invisible on a spreadsheet: a school old enough that enrolling is a family tradition rather than a purchase decision.
It cannot be bought, accelerated, or franchised. It can only be waited for — which is why the owners who get it are the ones who were still there in year twenty, and why the decision that produces it is simply not leaving.
Sources, and what we could not confirm
- Cause of death was not reported.
- Descriptions of a “long international teaching legacy” are not supported. Every source describes a career built entirely in New York City after he emigrated from Seoul. We have written it that way, and it is the better story.
- Principal sources: Tae Kwon Do Life Magazine’s obituary, his school’s own announcement, and published biographical records.
Corrections and first-hand recollections are welcome and will be added with attribution.