Award Ceremony Held at POSCO Center on the 6th
[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The POSCO TJ Park Foundation announced on the 6th that it held the '16th 2022 POSCO TJ Park Awards' ceremony at the POSCO Center in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Four scholars, including Professor Nam Gitae of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University, received awards.
According to the foundation, the Science Award went to Professor Nam Gitae of Seoul National University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Education Award to Yoo Haegeun, Chairman of the Korean-Mongolian School, the Volunteer Award to Jo Jinkyung, Director of the Teenage Women's Human Rights Center, and the Technology Award to Cha Kicheol, CEO of InBody Co., Ltd. The awardees received plaques and prize money of 200 million KRW each. This year’s entire award ceremony was broadcast live on YouTube. Only the minimum number of attendees, including the awardees and POSCO TJ Park Award officials, were present on site.
Kim Seonwook, Chairman of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation, said in his welcoming speech, "The foundation will continue to discover and support those who creatively and devotedly challenge the issues faced by our society and humanity, and those who tirelessly dedicate themselves to making a better world, striving to enrich society."
Professor Nam, who received the Science Award, is the first in the world to successfully implement the 'chiral' structure, which exists only in nature, artificially in metals. This achievement is expected to enable the development of new materials used in fields such as high-efficiency catalysts, 3D holograms, pharmaceuticals, and optics. He has consecutively published papers in leading international journals on the possibility of developing environmentally friendly new materials inspired by plant photosynthesis. These materials are regarded as essential for achieving carbon neutrality. According to the foundation, Professor Nam is recognized as one of the most influential researchers in the field of materials science and engineering.
Yoo, who received the Education Award, founded the Korean-Mongolian School in 1999 based on the belief that "all children and adolescents have the right to receive education equally." The school was established to provide opportunities for children of Mongolian migrant workers who had fallen into educational blind spots. Over the past 23 years, it has provided talent development education to Mongolian students living in Korea, presenting an educational model necessary for the multicultural era.
Jo, who received the Volunteer Award, established the Teenage Women's Human Rights Center in 2012, the first organization in Korea to support child and adolescent victims of sexual exploitation. She has worked to change society’s perception of prostitution and has advocated for the enactment of necessary laws, policy proposals, and the establishment of support systems to protect victims. As a result, the Special Act on Prostitution was enacted in 2004. In 2020, she played a key role in bringing the "Nth Room case" to public attention. She also played a significant role in the revision of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse (Youth Sexual Protection Act) in the same year.
Cha, who received the Technology Award, was recognized for commercializing innovative technology that measures moisture levels in different body parts just by holding a handle. Using the device developed by InBody, detailed analysis of body composition distributed in muscles, body fat, protein, minerals, and skeleton can be performed. According to the foundation, Cha is regarded as the "embodiment of a technician" who has devoted his life to developing body composition measurement technology. He is praised as a "first mover" who grew InBody into a global small giant company.
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