Prof. Kwangsu Kim of the Department of Economics, 

Received the 65^th National Academy of Science Award 

Professor Kwangsu Kim of the Department of Economics won a “2020 the 65^th National Academy of Science Award”. Among eight winners of the award, Prof. Kim was recognized for his academic value in his book <The Wealth of Nations and Adam Smith’s Convergence Studies> and his academic achievements in leading the scientific philosophy and methodology of scientific realism in the world’s history of thought related to Adam Smith were also considered.

Adam Smith is known to be an advocate of laissez-faire, which emphasizes selfishness and market-oriented unlimited competition in an era dominated by black-and-white. However, Adam Smith actually emphasized interaction with social animals in the Theory of Moral Sentiments, and argued that social individuals, who embodied social community identity (shared culture and customs) participate in political and economic activities under the value of freedom and equality, promoted social sustainability and prosperity. This social political philosophy is considered as a pioneer of modern liberal communitarianism.

The academic value of Prof. Kwangsu’s published book < The Wealth of Nations and Adam Smith’s Convergence Studies> is that it newly examines Adam’s social and political philosophy by interpreting not only his economics but also his ideas about law, politics, institutions, culture, and moral philosophy as interconnected convergence studies. Given the fact that the Korean economy is currently focused mainly on empirical analysis research, the convergence research attitude, which has valued the core classics of the West for decades, was considered more encouraging than anything else.

The National Academy of Science Award is an annual award given by the National Academy of Sciences to scholars who have achieved world-class outstanding and creative research achievements for the purpose of promoting academic research in Korea, and it is the most prestigious academic award with the longest history in our academic world. Since 1955, it has been awarded annually to scholars who have made outstanding contributions to academic development in humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, and has produced a total of 265 winners so far.

The award ceremony will be held at 10:00 a.m. on the 17th at the conference room of the Korean Academy of Sciences, and Minister of Education Eun-hye Yoo will attend to present awards and medals to the winners.