Trio win new Park prize for social responsibility

Posco yesterday awarded its first TJ Park prizes, awards that Korea’s top steel maker conceived to honor social responsibility. The three winners were Ihm Ji-soon, professor of physics and astronomy at Seoul National University; Nonsan Daegeon High School principal Kang Seok-joon; and Wardah Hafidz, from the Indonesian Urban Poor Consortium. Each received 200 million won ($212,562) in a ceremony held at Posco Center in southern Seoul. The monetary award is the same as that for a Ho-Am prize, established by Samsung Group in 1990 to recognize academics, artists and community service workers.
Posco said the prize is named for founder and current honorary chairman Park Tae-joon. The prizes are intended to spread the spirit of the world’s fifth-largest steel company in terms of creative pursuit, social service and fostering human resources. The TJ Park Foundation, called Cheongam Foundation in Korean, has set aside 100 billion won ($106 million) for the prize.
“I will do my best to foster the TJ Park prize into an award that will support global-scale research and help build a more affluent society,” said Lee Ku-taek, chairman of Posco.
Mr. Ihm was recognized for developing a new compound capable of storing hydrogen. Ms. Hafidz has been praised for helping needy citizens and contributing to democratization in her homeland. Two years ago she also won the sixth Gwangju prize for Human Rights. Nonsan Daegeon High School in South Chungcheong province is an alternative school noted for its child-centered curriculum.

By Seo Ji-eun Staff Writer [spring@joongang.co.kr]