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List of Korean Nobel laureates and nominees

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As of 2023, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to 975 people and 27 organizations since it was founded in 1901.[1] As of October 2024, two Koreans have become a Nobel laureate: South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and writer Han Kang.

The Nobel Prize medal received by the laureates

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 two Nobel laureates, 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 25 Nobel laureates in science as of 2024.

Laureates

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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]
2024   Han Kang
[한강] 		27 November 1970
Gwangju, South Korea 		— Literature "her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life."[12]
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."[13] (jointly with American chemist Donald J. Cram and French chemist Jean-Marie Lehn)

Nominations

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The first Korean to earn a nomination for the Nobel Prize was the poet Yi Gwangsu.[14] 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.[15] Only living individuals and existing organizations are permitted to be nominated.[15][16] 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,[15] among them:

Nominees

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Image Nominee Born Died Years Nominated Citation Nominator(s)
Physiology or Medicine
  Bun-ichi Hasama
[挾間 文一][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)[14] 		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 Tu-jin
[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
  United States
  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 9 June 1935
Austria 		29 September 2023
Austria

Nominators

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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 Tu-jin
(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
(1935–2023)
  Austria

Notes

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  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."[19][20]
  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."[21]
  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."[22]
  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."[23]
  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."[20]
  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

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  1. ^ "Alfred Nobel's will". nobelprize.org. 6 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ Howard W. French (14 October 2000). "South Korean President Wins Nobel Peace Prize For Efforts to Heal Rift". New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Press release – The Nobel Peace Prize 2000". nobelprize.org. 13 October 2000. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  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.
  5. ^ "Charles J. Pedersen | American chemist". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  6. ^ Jay Kim (26 October 2015). "Why no Korean Nobel laureates?". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  7. ^ Arirang TV (11 November 2022). "When will S. Korea have its 2nd Nobel Laureate?". YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  8. ^ Baek Byung-yeul (2 October 2018). "Poor basic science blamed for Korea's failure to produce Nobel Laureate". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  9. ^ Chon Shi-yong (16 October 2015). "Let's try harder for Nobel Prize: The Korea Herald". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  10. ^ Nam Hyun-woo (22 December 2022). "'Korea will have Nobel laureate, Fields winners soon,' Yoon says". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  11. ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 2000 Archived 2020-05-22 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  12. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  13. ^ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1987 Archived 2020-05-21 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  14. ^ a b Nomination archive – Kwang-Soo Lee Archived 2022-09-28 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  15. ^ a b c "Nomination and selection of Nobel laureates". nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  16. ^ "From the 1888 mix-up to the no-posthumous-honour rule, 5 interesting facts about the Nobel". The Economic Times. 1 October 2022. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  17. ^ Nurfilzah Rohaidi (19 July 2016). "Asia's Scientific Trailblazers: Ihm Jisoon". Asian Scientist. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Korean physicist should have won Nobel: experts". Korea JoongAng Daily. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  19. ^ Dong Jae-lee (3 June 2015). "Professor Ryong Ryoo of the KAIST Department of Chemistry was nominated as one of the laureates in the Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014". The KAIST Herald. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  20. ^ a b "Two Koreans up for Nobel Prizes". Korea JoongAng Daily. 25 September 2014. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  21. ^ "The 2017 Clarivate Citation Laureates". Clarivate Analytics. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  22. ^ "Clarivate Reveals 2020 Citation Laureates – Annual List of Researchers of Nobel Class". PR Newswire. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  23. ^ "Clarivate Reveals 2021 Citation Laureates – Annual List of Researchers of Nobel Class". PR Newswire. September 22, 2021. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  24. ^ "Hwang Sun-won: one of the great Korean authors of the 21th century". Korea.net. 15 March 2016. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Seo Jeong-ju: one of the great Korean poets". Korea.net. 17 May 2016. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  26. ^ a b c "Why Korea wants Nobel Prize for literature". The Korea Times. 23 September 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  27. ^ Ch'Oe, In-hun (2002). Reflections on a Mask: Two Novellas. Homa & Sekey Books. ISBN 1931907056.
  28. ^ "Hopes high for Ko Un's chance for Nobel prize". The Korea Herald. 7 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  29. ^ a b Nawaid Anjum (6 October 2022). "Who will win the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature?". thefederal.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  30. ^ Alister Doyle, Balazs Koranyi and Alistair Scrutton (2 October 2014). "Change looms for Nobel Peace Prize as chairman risks coup". Reuters. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  31. ^ a b Jack Kilbride (5 October 2018). "Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in are among the bookies' favourites for the Nobel Peace Prize". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  32. ^ Nomination archive – Bun-ichi Hasama Archived 2023-03-16 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  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
  35. ^ a b "Nobelarkivet-1972" (PDF). svenskaakademien.se. April 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  36. ^ Kang Hyun-kyung (21 December 2015). "Poet fights to correct past wrongs". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  37. ^ "Ham Sok-hon". Quakers in the World. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  38. ^ "HAM SOK-HON: The Korean Gandhi". mkgandhi.org. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  39. ^ a b Ko Dong-hwan and You Soo-sun (8 August 2017). "S. Korea recommends two Austrian 'angels' for Nobel Peace Prize". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  40. ^ a b Thomas Maresca (17 December 2019). "On former leper colony in South Korea, hopes grow for Nobel Peace Prize". UPI. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  41. ^ Nomination archive – Nominators from Republic of Korea Archived 2023-03-16 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  42. ^ a b Nomination archive – Chull Paik Archived 2023-03-16 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  43. ^ Nomination archive – Mun Hui-Soh Archived 2023-03-16 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  44. ^ Nomination archive – Rhee Hyo Sang Archived 2023-03-16 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  45. ^ Nomination archive – Hi Sup Chung Archived 2023-03-16 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
  46. ^ a b "The National Archives of Norway [Det Norske Nobelinstitutt: Nominasjoner til Nobels fredspris]". media-digitalarkivet-no. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
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