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To celebrate the 51st Science Day and the 63rd Information and Communication Day, the Korean government decorated 120 scientists with orders, medals, presidential citations, and prime minister’s awards to recognize their contribution to the promotion of science, technology, and the advancement of information and communication technology. In total, the government prizes were awarded to 78 men of merit (29 orders, 7 medals, 18 presidential citations and 24 prime minister’s awards), whose work contributed to the promotion of science and technology.
The First Class Order of Science and Technology Merit for Creation was awarded to Prof. Keon-Woo Lee at Seoul National University, the world’s leading authority on Computer-Aided Design (CAD), and a pioneer who revolutionized the education of engineering in Korea. The Second Class Order of Science and Technology Merit for Reformation was awarded to Prof. Jong-Ihn Song at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, who developed the next-generation optical wireless communication technology, a platform technology for the 6th generation mobile communication, and a large-scale wireless distribution sensor network technology. The Second Class Order was also awarded to Prof. Seong-Jin Kim from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Senior Researcher Yong-Soo Jeong from the Korea Institute of Materials Science, and Prof. Yong-Hoon Lee from Pusan National University.
The President Jang Seong Kim at KRIBB was awarded the Fifth Class Order of Science and Technology Merit for Progress, and Senior Researchers Nam-Soon Kim and Eun-Wie Cho were awarded the Medal of Science and Technology and Presidential Citation, respectively. The Order awarded to the President Jang Seong Kim recognized his contribution in enhancing the global positioning of Korean biotechnology (BT) by developing an anti-angiogenic anti-cancer drug in Korea that has been approved for clinical trials for the first time by the U.S. FDA. The contribution of Senior Researcher Nam-Soon Kim includes the localization and construction of human genetic clones as a research resource and the development of a platform technology for the diagnosis and treatment of rare or common cancers based on genomics, which has led to the foundation of a research base for precision (personalized) medicine. Senior Researcher Eun-Wie Cho contributed to the advancement of BT by developing an in vitro cancer diagnostic and exploring the functions of novel genes and proteins that govern the mechanisms underlying carcinogenic metastasis.
In the field of biotechnology, four scientists were appointed as Men of Merit in Science and Technology: Dr. Ih-Hyeok Kwon, an emeritus professor at Seoul National University; Dr. Wan-Kyu Cho, a former president of Seoul National University; Dr. Kil-Saeng Jeong, a former president of Konkuk University; Dr. Noh-Hee Park, a distinguished professor at UCLA. These researchers comprise half of the eight appointed men of merit, thereby highlighting the importance of biomedical and life science fields.
The nominees for the government prize were selected from among the contestants and recommenders from institutes, organizations and a recommendation committee related to the fields of science technology and information communication. The selection process involved an evaluation by the subfield and an valuation by the recommendation committee (Step 1), a comprehensive review by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Step 2), a review of meritorious achievement by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Step 3), followed by government deliberation, cabinet meetings, and presidential sanction. The review process for this award was distinguished by an extended contest period and greater emphasis on private recommendations, with enhanced objectivity obtained by using guidelines to assess the level of meritorious achievement. Factors that could limit a recommendation such as the duration of contribution, or a criminal background were also taken into account, so that a culture where ‘only those worthy of the prize are given the awards’ could be firmly established.