Ten scholars in the field of Korean studies were awarded medals for their roles and services toward the promotion of Hangeul at a ceremony at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul.

The “Hangeul, Sharing the World” event was held Tuesday in celebration of the 566th Hangeul Day.

The recipients included experts from around the globe, including from Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Japan, China and the United States, and were selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in recognition of their research achievements in Korean culture and Hangeul. 

The top award at this year’s event, the silver Order of Culture Merit, was awarded to professor Lev Rafailovich Kontsevich, one of the leading experts in Russia on the Korean language and history.

He works as a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. In 1973, he completed the first Russian translation of the ancient text on the history and use of Korean characters and has been working in the field of Korean studies research in Russia for some 50 years, lecturing on Korean grammar and pronunciation.

“This is the most important award I have ever received in my life,” said the 82-year-old professor. “My interest in Korea started around the 1940s because at that time, Korea as a nation was an unknown territory to me, which is why I decided to major in Korean studies.”

In particular, the science behind the Hangeul writing system that was invented by King Sejong, who had a dream for his people to break away from the peninsula’s use of Chinese characters, was truly an amazing accomplishment for the country, Kontsevich said.

The other nine medal recipients who played key roles in promoting Hangeul domestically and overseas are Kanewaka Toshiyuki of Japan; Kang Eun-guk of China; Yu Cho Young-mee of the U.S.; Em Antonina of Uzbekistan; S. Goksel Turkozu of Turkey; and Song Hyang-guen, Kim Han-jung, Kang Sung-gon and Kim Eung-soo of Korea.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)