From left: Kim Hee-sik, Center Director on the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB); Nam Seung-il, former Principal Researcher on the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI); Lee Woo-young, Professor at Yonsei University; Lee Hyun-su, Associate Director on the Institute for Basic Science (IBS); Cha Meeyoung, Professor at KAIST. Courtesy of KOFST.
Behind scientific and technological achievements lie tales that can’t be advised by numbers alone. There is the researcher who continued Arctic exploration even amidst a monetary disaster, the factitious intelligence (AI) scientist who solved the puzzle of North Korean satellite tv for pc pictures via interviews with defectors, and the physicist ready for an invisible particle 1,000 meters underground. These are the tales from the entrance strains of analysis, shared by this yr’s Science Day award winners.
The Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST) introduced on the twenty third that it had surveyed 89 recipients of the 2026 Science Day medals, orders, and citations to uncover the challenges and narratives hidden behind their analysis achievements.
Nam Seung-il, a former principal researcher on the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) and recipient of the Order of Science and Technology Merit (Doyak Medal), was the primary Korean to start analysis on previous local weather change within the Arctic. He led 17 Arctic expeditions, making world-first discoveries of ice sheet collapse, the existence of big glaciers, and deep-sea brackish water environments. He didn’t hand over on his analysis even when his analysis basis crumbled throughout the 1997 monetary disaster.
The story of Lee Woo-young, a distinguished professor at Yonsei University who acquired the identical award, demonstrates a virtuous cycle of analysis and training. A refined, anomalous sign that Professor Lee found throughout an experiment as a grasp’s scholar developed into his world-renowned hydrogen sensor analysis.
Professor Cha Meeyoung of KAIST, who acquired the Order of Science and Technology Merit (Hyeoksin Medal), is a researcher who has used AI to resolve social points reminiscent of faux information and poverty. While conducting analysis to decide the financial degree of areas in North Korea utilizing solely satellite tv for pc pictures, she encountered a drawback the place the AI couldn’t interpret sure patterns within the pictures.
The breakthrough got here from interviews with North Korean defectors. A chunk of native information—”the neighborhoods with a lot of solar panels are the wealthy ones”—allowed the AI to grasp a degree of affluence it could not decipher from satellite tv for pc pictures alone. “It was a critical clue that no algorithm could have realized on its own,” stated Professor Cha.
Lee Hyun-su, an affiliate director on the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and a recipient of the Medal of Science and Technology, is trying to find darkish matter in a laboratory 1,000 meters underground at Yemi Mountain. He stated, “The paradox of going to the quietest place on Earth to wait for an encounter with an invisible particle to unlock the secrets of the universe demonstrates the value of patience inherent in basic science research.”
Kim Hee-sik, a middle director on the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) and a recipient of the Presidential Citation, has the expertise of quickly mass-producing a bio-emulsifier—then solely on the laboratory degree—and deploying it to the cleanup website of the 2007 Taean oil spill. It was a case that confirmed laboratory expertise could possibly be utilized within the area.
KOFST analyzed that the awardees’ tales on this survey shared frequent themes: the perseverance that allowed them to proceed their analysis over a very long time, surprising turning factors, and the worth of science related to society.
A KOFST official acknowledged, “The achievements of scientists and engineers cannot be explained by numbers alone. We will focus on conveying science through human stories.”
Copyright ⓒ DongA Science. All rights reserved.