- Science Prize to Prof. Chun, Jeong-hee, Seoul National University; Education Prize to Yeomyeong School; Community Development and Philanthropy Prize to Angkor Hospital for Children; and Technology Prize to Lim Tae-won, the Director of Future Innovation Technology Center, Hyundai Motor Company

- POSCO Center on Apr 4 ... Over 150 people from all walks attended the ceremony

POSCO TJ Park Foundation held the 13th '2019 POSCO TJ Park Prize' awarding ceremony at POSCO Center on April 3.

POSCO TJ Park Foundation awarded Science Prize to Prof. Chun, Jeong-hee, Seoul National University; Education Prize to Yeomyeong School; Community Development and Philanthropy Prize to Angkor Hospital for Children; and Technology Prize to Lim Tae-won, the Director of Future Innovation Technology Center, Hyundai Motor Company with medal and the prize money of KRW 200 million for each awardee.

 At this awarding ceremony, about 150 people attended, including Jeong Se-kyun, the Former Chairman of the National Assembly, Moon, Mi-ok, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Lee, Mi-gyeong, the Chairman of KOICA, Ambassador LONG Dimanche, the Embassy of Cambodia in Korea, Oh, Se-jung, the President of Seoul National University, Jeong, Jin-teak , the President of Korea University, Shin, Dong-ryeol, the President of Sungkyunkwan University, Kim, Doh-yeon, the President of POSTECH, Kwon, Oh-kyong, the Chairman of National Academy of Engineering of Korea, Lee, Ha-gyeong, Chief Editor, Joongang Ilbo, Kim, Ki-woong, the President of Korea Economic Daily, Lee Jong-hwan, the Vice Chairman of Seoul Economic Newspaper, Chang, Myeong-gook, the President of Naeil Newspaper and POSCO TJ Park Prize winners in the past.

▲ The POSCO TJ Park Foundation awarded POSCO TJ Park Prizes on April 3, 2019. From left, Jeong Se-kyun,  the Former chairman of the National Assembly, Prof. Chun, Jeong-hee, Seoul National University and his wife, Lee Heung-hoon, the President of Yeonmeyong School, Claudia Turner, the 3CEO of Angkor Hospital for Children, Lim Tae-won, the Director of Future Innovation Technology Center, Hyundai Motor Company and his wife, and Kim, Sun-wook, the Chairman of POSCO TJ Park Foundation

Kim Sun-wook, the Chairman of POSCO TJ Park Foundation, said in his welcoming speech, "The POSCO TJ Park Prize’ is intended to cheer those who take the lead in solving problems of our time. We will continue to cheer and support the scientists who challenge the unknown world, educators who educate the next generation in a correct way, engineers who will lead the engine for the growth of S. Korea, and practitioners of humanism who will open up better tomorrow by skimming deep shadow cast over our world.
 

Jeong Se-kyun, the Former Chairman of the National Assembly, said in his congratulatory address: "The prosperity that Korea enjoys now is built on the dedication and enthusiasm of the hidden heroes who have been doing their best in their fields like prize winners. I would like to ask all of you to take the lead for S.Korea where everybody can be happy and the future of a sustainable community without being complacent with today’s honor".

Prof. Chun, Jeong-hee, the winner of Science Prize, has decrypted the multiple linear function, the biggest challenge in the field of cryptology, for the first time in the world; developed 'HeaAn', a homomorphic encryption software program that can calculate real numbers without decryption in encrypted state; and suggested a new paradigm of security in the age of the 4th industrial revolution, being acknowledged to be an authority in the field of cryptology.

The homomorphic encryption that Prof. Chun, Jeong-hee has developed is capable of calculating encrypted real numbers efficiently, bringing a breakthrough to the homomorphic encryption. HeaAn introduced at ‘International Conference on the Standardization of Homomorphic Encryption’ held in Boston, the USA in Mar last year gained a great public favor.

As the fact that homomorphic encryption for the calculation of real numbers can be applied to all fields requiring data security, such as sensitive biometric information and financial information of individuals has been proven, it is expected to be widely used in the future as a next generation encryption system that will lead the age of the 4th industrial revolution represented by big data, block chain, autonomous vehicle and Internet of Things (IoT), etc.

Yeonmyeong School, the winner of Education Prize, is the first alternative school (graduates are qualified as high school graduates), which was established in 2004 with the private initiative for the young people from North Korea who have rapidly joined our society since the early 2000s due to North Korea's economic difficulties. It heals the physical and psychological wounds of the students formed during the defection and provides customized education that fits the academic ability of individuals, presenting a school system that can be applied in the age of unification.

In particular, Yeomyeong School runs value education programs, such as democratic citizenship education, economic education, community education, personality education, etiquette education, and volunteer activities; and special programs, such as art therapy, music therapy, professional psychological counseling and physical activities with the aim of helping the young people from the North Korea to adapt themselves to the Korean society, and also runs a variety of customized learning programs, such as 'CSAT Preparation Class’ for those who want to go to college and ‘Dream Project' for students who want to have jobs..

In addition, through regular exchange program with students in the S. Korea from 2015, it creates the opportunity to raise the social adaptability of the youth from the North Korea and form a consensus on unification. In addition, it continues to hold seminars on Unification Education with Adenauer Foundation, Germany, every year, since 2012.
 

Angkor Hospital for Children, the winner of Community Development & Philanthropy Prize, is a non-profit medical institution located in Siem Reap in Cambodia. It has been contributing greatly to the improvement of healthcare services in Cambodia through free medical treatment, training of medical personnel, and hygiene education.

 Since its establishment in 1999, Angkor Hospital for Children has been providing free medical services to 500 underprivileged children every day (160,000 children every year) over the last 20 years. Especially in Cambodia, where the mortality rate of newborn babies less than one month old is high, it has established the ward for newborn babies, such as neonatal intensive care units and intensive care units, for the first time in Cambodia in 2013, contributing greatly to decreasing the mortality rate of newborn babies.

In addition, Angkor Hospital for Children provides practical training to more than 800 nursing students, and education and training to medical workers working at government-affiliated public health centers, national, public and private hospital every year by using its medial infrastructure, contributing to the improvement of the level of medical service in Cambodia that lacks health manpower. It also provides customized hygiene education to parents and children to prevent disease in cooperation with local authorities, local communities and schools.

Lim, Tae-won, the Director of Future Innovation Technology Center, Hyundai Motor Company, is the best expert in hydrogen fuel cell industry, who has led the development of core technologies, from the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle starting from 1998 to the success of the world’s first mass production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in 2013.

In the early stage of the development of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in an environment, which has not been fully equipped with production facilities, Lim, Tae-won, the Director of Future Innovation Technology Center has dedicated himself in the research. Through countless trial and errors, he finally succeeded in developing core technologies such as fuel cell stack, hydrogen storage, and fuel cell system control that can be mounted on vehicles at competitive price using metal separator plates instead of conventional graphite.

 In a situation, in a domestic situation where industrial foundation is week, he built domestic hydrogen fuel cell development infrastructure with more than 20 universities and 300 components companies, thereby localizing more than 90% of core components.

Celebrating its 13th anniversary this year, POSCO TJ Park Prize was established in 2006 to honor the accomplishments of the late honorary chairman TJ Park, who has laid the foundation for industrialization and modernization of the country in the determination of ‘Serving the Nation by Making Steel’ and to contribute to national development by spreading public attention and participation to ‘Creativity, Talent and Service Mind’ that are POSCO founder’s initiatives.

 The final winners will be selected from candidates recommended by domestic and overseas major institutions and experts through a six-month screening process, including a review by the expert committee and the selection committee composed of experts from various fields, advisory evaluation from domestic and foreign scholars, and on-site inspection.

Science Prize is given to a Korean scientist who has contributed to the development of science and technology by raising the status of the nation by achieving creative achievements in the field of natural science and engineering while working in Korea; Educational Prize is given to a person or organization that has implemented creative education programs systematically and spread them throughout the education system; and Community Development and Philanthropy Prize is given to a person or an organization that has devote themselves to love and sharing in order to improve the quality of life of human society. In conjunction with POSCO Asia Fellowship, the qualification was extended to the Asian region. Technology Prize, which was newly established last year, is given to a person who contributed to the development of the national industry by directly developing and commercializing world-class technologies in the field of industry, academia and research.