- Sponsored for 26 years since the first award in 1997, prize money doubled this year

The Kiturami Cultural Foundation (Chairman Kim Yun-gyu) has been sponsoring the “Korea Academy of Engineering Grand Prize” and “Young Engineer Award,” dubbed “Korea’s Nobel Prize,” for 26 years.

The Grand Prize of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and the Young Engineer Award, selected annually by the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, are awards given to engineers and technicians who have made significant contributions to the development of Korea's industry.

In particular, it is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the field of engineering technology in Korea as it targets the lifetime achievements of an award candidate instead of a single achievement.

The Kiturami Cultural Foundation has fully sponsored the winners' prize money since the first award in 1997.

Starting this year, according to Kiturami Group Chairman Choi Jin-min’s will—"Let's put more effort into nurturing engineers”—the grand prize money has doubled from 100 million won to 200 million won. The prize money for the Young Engineer Award has been doubled as well from 50 million won to 100 million won.

The 26th Grand Prize of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea was awarded to Hyun Taek-hwan, Chair Professor at Seoul National University. The Young Engineer Award was awarded to Kim Ik-jae, Senior Researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, and Roh Jun-seok, Professor of mechanical engineering/chemical engineering at POSTECH.