36th Sejong Culture awardees announced

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that four individuals and one organization have been chosen to receive the 36th Sejong Culture Award.

The awards ceremony will be held at the National Museum of Korea on Friday at 3 p.m.

Park Jong-gook, honorary chairman of King Sejong the Great Memorial Society, will receive the award in the Korean culture category. Park put great effort into promoting Korean studies by translating 500 classic books written in Chinese characters to modern Korean.

Moon Hoon-sook, general director of Universal Ballet, was honored in the arts section for her contributions to the advancement of the genre with her performances at home and abroad. She has been credited with seamlessly incorporating Korean culture into modern ballet performances.

Kwon Young-min, a chair professor at Dankook University, was named in the academic section. The professor studied the history of Korean modern literature and came up with a coherent interpretation. He also introduced Korean literature to readers overseas by working as the chairman of the International Association of Comparative Korean Studies.

Park He-ran, head of Women&Culture in Network, will receive the award in the cultural diversity section for promoting gender equality through public speeches. She has been working as the editor of the Women’s News for 30 years.

In the social volunteering category, Global Care received the award for providing free medical consultations to senior citizens living alone, military wives, immigrant workers and low-income families since 1997.

The ministry holds the annual awards ceremony to recognize those who have played a part in advancing Korea’s culture.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeunjie@heraldcorp.com)