KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES

Celebrating KIGAM’s 101 Historic Momentum for the New Future

Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM, President Dr. Kim Bok Chul) held the 101 years of establishment at the KIGAM’s Auditorium Hall on September 9, 2019. The event was consisted with the 'Commendation of Merit', 'Declaration of Core KIGAM Values', and 'Special Lecture'.

In the commemorative award, nine people from six departments were honored. Dr. Hyun-Chul Han won the KIGAM Award of the Year, as the name indicates the award, it is given to a researcher who has performed excellent research results in every year to boost researchers' morale and encourage their performances.

Dr. Han joined KIGAM in 1993 and was recognized for his contributions to international seabed crustal studies, coastal geological risk factors, and 200 nautical miles of marine landscape planning.

In particular, Dr. Han was the first Korean to be selected as a member of the International Subregional Geographical Committee (SCUFN)* in 2006. In recognition of this expertise and ability, Dr. Han was the first Asian to be elected chairman of the International Undersea Place Names Committee in 2018.

※ SCUFN; Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names: Organization that conducts activities to standardize undersea names, such as recommending them for use in charts and maps.

Meanwhile, KIGAM held a proclamation ceremony of “KIGAM Core Values for the Next Century” to become a world-class research organization specializing in geological resources by changing KIGAM’s organization culture to “together” instead of “alone.”

KIGAM Core Values are consisted of three themes and nine commitments: including (1) Expertise (2) Respect (3) Communication. The values were the collective reflections of reasons and carefully selected objectives by the KIGAM researchers throughout a year-long of generation value empathy seminars and activities.

Lastly, a special lecture by Professor Choi Jin-suk (Department of Philosophy, Sogang University) was held to confirm KIGAM's new beginning by enhancing the adventures and challenges for all employees.

Dr. Kim said, “KIGAM has been working to create an organizational culture for communication and collaboration among generations, occupations, and positions for the past years. And this is the time to raise the voice of New KIGAM. Let's work together to be the best to lead the future of Korea’s Geoscience!”