List of Korean Nobel laureates and nominees

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The Nobel Prize medal received by the laureates

As of 2023, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to 975 people and 27 organizations since it was founded in 1901.[1] As of April 2023, only one Korean has become a Nobel laureate: South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

Kim was awarded the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to push for national reconciliation between the divided Koreas during a summit meeting in Pyongyang.[2][3] One American who was born in South Korea to non-Korean parents, Charles J. Pedersen, won the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.[4][5]

Despite only having one Nobel laureate, numerous North and South Korean individuals (both citizens within the country and living in diasporic communities) and organizations have been nominated for the prize in any category.[6][7]

It was speculated that poor basic science education in school and universities was behind this, and steps were proposed to improve.[8][9] In 2022, President Yoon Suk-yeol voiced optimism over the future of the field of science in Korea, saying "Korea will have Nobel laureates soon."[10] For comparison, Japan had 23 Nobel laureates in science as of 2018.

Laureates[edit]

Year Image Laureate Born Died Field Citation
Citizens
2000 Kim Dae-jung
[김대중] 		6 January 1924
Hauido, South Jeolla, South Korea 		18 August 2009
Seoul, South Korea 		Peace "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular."[11]
Diaspora[a]
1987 Charles J. Pedersen[b] 3 October 1904
Busan, South Korea 		26 October 1989
Salem, New Jersey, United States 		Chemistry "for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity."[12] (jointly with American chemist Donald J. Cram and French chemist Jean-Marie Lehn)

Nominations[edit]

The first Korean to earn a nomination for the Nobel Prize was the poet Yi Gwangsu.[13] Unfortunately he died in 1950, therefore his nomination was done posthumously and, according to the Nobel statutes, posthumous nominations are automatically disqualified during the committee's deliberations.[14] Only living individuals and existing organizations are permitted to be nominated.[14][15] Since then, other Koreans began getting nominated for the prestigious Swedish prize in different categories. The following list are the nominees with verified nominations from the Nobel Committee and recognized international organizations. There are also other purported nominees whose nominations are yet to be verified since the archives are revealed 50 years after,[14] among them:

Nominees[edit]

Image Nominee Born Died Years Nominated Citation Nominator(s)
Physiology or Medicine
Bun-ichi Hasama[h] — — 1938 "for his work on changes in the electropotential of active endocrine glands."[32] Albrecht Bethe
(1872–1954)
 Germany
Literature
Yi Gwangsu
[이광수]
(posthumously nominated) 		1 February 1892 in Chongju, North Pyongan, North Korea 25 October 1950 in Manpo, Chagang, North Korea 1970 It Is Love (1909)
Heartless (1917)
Danjong Aesa (1929)
Soil (1932)[13] 		Baek Cheol
(1908–1985)
 South Korea
Younghill Kang
[강용흘] 		5 June 1898 in Hongwon, South Hamgyong, North Korea 2 December 1972 in Satellite Beach, Florida, United States 1971 The Grass Roof (1931)
The Happy Grove (1933)
East Goes West: The Making of an Oriental Yankee (1937)[33] 		Robert Payne
(1911–1983)
 United Kingdom
Eun Kook Kim
[김은국] 		13 March 1932 in Hamhung, South Hamgyong, North Korea 23 June 2009 in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, United States 1971 The Martyred (1964)
The Innocent (1968)
Lost Names (1970)
In Search of Lost Years (1985)[34] 		Baek Cheol
(1908–1985)
 South Korea
Pak Dujin
[박두진] 		10 March 1916 in Anseong, Gyeonggi, South Korea 16 September 1998 in Seoul, South Korea 1972 The Sun (1949)
A Prayer at Noon (1953)
A Human Jungle (1963)
Chronicles of Water and Stone (1973)[35]
Kim Chi-ha
[김지하] 		4 February 1941 in Mokpo, South Jeolla, South Korea 8 May 2022 in Wonju, Gangwon, South Korea 1975 Cry of the People (1974)
The Gold Crowned Jesus (1978)
The Middle Hour (1980)
Heart's Agony (1998)[36]
Peace
Ham Seok-heon
[함석헌] 		13 March 1901
Yomju, North Pyongan, North Korea 		4 February 1989
Seoul, South Korea 		1979, 1985 "for his lifelong commitment to peace and democracy, becoming an important Asian voice for human rights and non-violence known as 'seed idea' (ssi-al sasang)."[37][38] American Friends Service Committee
6 Korean women (part of the 1000 PeaceWomen)[i] began in 2003 in Bern, Switzerland 2005 "in recognition of women's efforts and visibility in promoting peace all over the world." Ruth-Gaby Vermont-Mangold
(b. 1941)
  Switzerland
Marianne Stöger 24 April 1934
Matrei am Brenner, Tyrol, Austria 		— 2017, 2020 "for their four decades of work on Sorok Island, looking after Hansen's disease patients with all their hearts."[39][40] Kim Hwang-sik
(born 1948)
 South Korea
Margaritha Pissarek 1935
Austria 		—

Nominators[edit]

The following Korean individuals became qualified nominators of local and foreign contenders for the Nobel Prize in any category:[41]

Image Nominator Born Died Nominee Motivation Year
Nominated
Literature
Baek Cheol
[백철] 		18 March 1908
Uiju, North Pyongan, North Korea 		13 October 1985
Seoul, South Korea 		Yi Gwangsu
(1892–1950)
 North Korea 		It Is Love (1909)
Heartless (1917)
Danjong Aesa (1929)
Soil (1932) 		1970[42]
Eun Kook Kim
(1932–2009)
 United States 		The Martyred (1964)
The Innocent (1968)
Lost Names (1970)
In Search of Lost Years (1985) 		1971[42]
Pak Dujin
(1916–1998)
 South Korea 		The Sun (1949)
A Prayer at Noon (1953)
A Human Jungle (1963)
Chronicles of Water and Stone (1973) 		1972[35]
Peace
Mun Hui-sok — 1977
South Korea 		Universal Esperanto Association
(founded in 1908)
 Netherlands 		"for their contribution to eliminating misunderstandings, suspicion and hatred amongst nations through the international language Esperanto." 1962[43]
Rhee Hyo-sang
[이효상] 		14 January 1906
Jung, Daegu, North Gyeongsang, South Korea 		18 June 1989 Seoul, South Korea Hermann Gmeiner
(1919–1986)
 Austria 		"for founding SOS Children's Villages, and through his work gathering millions of people in the cause of good will for abandoned children." 1965[44]
Hi Sup Chung — — Spurgeon Milton Keeney
(1893–1988)
 United States 		"for having, throughout his life, strived for freedom of the individual and full development of human beings as persons and for continuously striving for human betterment, for the dignity of the individual and for the coming together of all people." 1969[45]
Lee Hai-rang — — Pearl S. Buck
(1892–1973)
 United States 		1972[46]
Kim Jong-pil
[김종필] 		7 January 1926
South Chungcheong, South Korea 		23 June 2018 Seoul, South Korea 1972[46]
Kim Hwang-sik
[김황식] 		9 August 1948
Jangseong, South Jeolla, South Korea 		Marianne Stöger
(born 1934)
 Austria 		"for their four decades of work on Sorok Island, looking after Hansen's disease patients with all their hearts." 2020[39][40]
Margaritha Pissarek
(born 1935)
 Austria

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Nobel laureates of Korean birth and origin but subsequently acquired foreign citizenship.
  2. ^ The 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Charles J. Pedersen has a Japanese mother and his Japanese first name was Yoshio (良男). He was born in Busan, Korea, Japanese protectorate, but later moved to Japan with his family at the age of 8 years to attend a convent school in Nagasaki.
  3. ^ Ryoo Ryong was named 2014 Clarivate Citation Laureate with Charles T. Kresge and Galen D. Stucky "for the design of functional mesoporous materials."[18][19]
  4. ^ Nam-Gyu Park was named 2017 Clarivate Citation Laureate with Tsutomu Miyasaka and Henry Snaith "for their discovery and application of perovskite materials to achieve efficient energy conversion."[20]
  5. ^ Taeghwan Hyeon was named 2020 Clarivate Citation Laureate with Christopher B. Murray and Moungi G. Bawendi "for synthesis of nanocrystals with precise attributes for a wide range of applications in physical, biological, and medical systems."[21]
  6. ^ Ho Wang Lee was named 2021 Clarivate Citation Laureate with Karl M. Johnson "for identification and isolation of the Hantaan virus (hantavirus), agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome."[22]
  7. ^ Charles Lee was named 2014 Clarivate Citation Laureate with Stephen W. Scherer and Michael H. Wigler "for their contributions to the discovery of large-scale copy number variation and its association with specific diseases."[19]
  8. ^ According to the Nobel nomination archives, Bun-ichi Hasama was a professor of pharmacology at the Keijō Imperial University. In 1938, he was jointly nominated with German physiologist Erich von Holst (1908–1962) and Russian biologist Alexander Gurwitsch (1874–1954).
  9. ^ The 6 Korean women who formed part in the 1000 PeaceWomen were Yoon Geum-Soon (?), Shin Heisoo (born 1950), Lee Hyun-Sook (?), Maria Rhie Chol-soon (?), Kim Sook-Im (?) and Jeong Yu-Jin (?).

References[edit]

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  4. ^ "DJ와 또 한 명 … 노벨위원회엔 '한국 출생 수상자' 2명 기록 [DJ and another ... Nobel committee's record of two Korean-born winners]". joins.com. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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  11. ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 2000 Archived 2020-05-22 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  12. ^ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1987 Archived 2020-05-21 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  13. ^ a b Nomination archive – Kwang-Soo Lee Archived 2022-09-28 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  14. ^ a b c "Nomination and selection of Nobel laureates". nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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  33. ^ Nomination archive – Younghill Kang Archived 2022-09-28 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  34. ^ Nomination archive – Richard Eun Kook Kim Archived 2022-09-29 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
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