Late Sandoll CEO Seok Geum-ho Awarded Silver Order of Cultural Merit for Hangul Font Development

The late Seok Geum-ho, CEO of Sandoll, who contributed to the development and distribution of Hangul fonts, will be posthumously awarded the Silver Order of Cultural Merit.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it has selected 10 recipients (including organizations) for meritorious contributions to the advancement of Hangul, including the late CEO Seok, in celebration of the 580th Hangeul Day.

CEO Seok was recognized for his contributions to establishing the font company Sandoll and developing and distributing about 1,000 Hangul fonts over some 40 years.

The Ministry stated the reason for the selection, saying, "CEO Seok laid the foundation for expressing Hangul in various ways in computer environments and contributed to enhancing the cultural and artistic value of Hangul."

Baek Tae-hyun, vice president of the Central Asia Korea University, will receive the Okwan Order of Cultural Merit.

Vice President Baek led the establishment of two Korean universities in Kyrgyzstan and has dedicated himself to fostering next-generation Korean studies experts through initiatives such as the Leading University Project for International Cooperation.

The Culture Medal will be awarded to Cho Su-jin, president of the Association of Korean Schools in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., who laid the foundation for Hangul education by developing Korean language curricula for overseas Korean students locally in the U.S.; and Choi Hong-shik, president of the King Sejong Memorial Society, who publicized the academic value of Hangul through convergence research on the principles of Hunminjeongeum's creation.

Presidential Citations will be awarded to Lee Young-jun, a professor at Hirosaki University, who spread the Korean language and culture in the Tohoku region of Japan by hosting the "Let's Speak Korean Together" Aomori competition; the Tashkent Weekend Korean School, which has continued education on Hangul and national identity for the children of overseas Koreans in Uzbekistan; and the Korean Studies Institute at the Australian National University, which has expanded the foundation for learning and researching Korean language and culture in Australia through Korean language education, support for Korean schools, literature translation, and scholarship exchange programs.

In addition, Kim Gyeong-seok, president of the Korea Speech and Eloquence Association; Laura Tamosiuniene, associate professor at Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania; and Ji Seo-won, associate professor at the National University of Singapore, will receive Prime Minister's Citations.

The awards ceremony will take place on the 9th at the "580th Hangeul Day Celebration Ceremony" held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
(Photo provided by ChildFund Korea, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.