Godfather of public health who established public health and public health system in Korea, Pioneer of medical education who laid the foundation for education and manpower training in the medical field
(Late) Kwon E-hyock
Honorary professor of Seoul National University (1923~2020)
- Professional career
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1943.09 ~ 1947.08
B.S at Department of Medicine, Seoul National University
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1947.09 ~ 1951.05
M.S at Seoul National University (Preventive Medicine)
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1960.03
MD at National University (Preventive Medicine)
- Professional career
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1980.06 ~ 1983.10
The 15th President of Seoul National University
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1988.02 ~ 1988.12
Minister of Health and Social Affairs
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1990.03 ~ 1993.02
Chairman of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies
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1991.04 ~ 1992.06
Minister of Environment
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2016.03 ~ 2020.02
The 8th Chief Director of Seoul Peace Prize Foundation
- Awards
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1970.12
Order of Civil Merit, Camellia Medal
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1985.03
Order of Service Merit, Blue Stripe
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1998.02
Order of Civil Merit, Rose of Sharon Medal
Godfather of Korean medical science who developed and compiled health science fitted to active conditions in Korea for 30 years since the 1960s.
Professor E Hyok Kwon is a pioneer who established a new medical area subject to health of population including health people getting out of traditional medicine focusing on disease diagnosis and treatment of individual patients, namely health science. Health Science is a new medical area intending to promote the health of the whole population by studying and investigating unhealthy factors of the population and developing effective means to remove or reduce them. Therefore unlike traditional medicine focusing on disease essentially, it is impossible to introduce and apply the contents studied and developed in other developed countries the way they are because health science can be established only when studying and developing sociocultural and live environmental features as well as health-disease in terms of biology.
Professor E Hyok Kwon is a master in health science, who introduced academic concepts and theory of health science and established health science fitting to actual conditions of Korea. For this, he has performed socio-medical and ecological medical research on populations since the 1960s and established the advanced Korean type health science reflecting specialties variously and widely, subject of special populations such as urban, the poor, the blind, the pediatric, the old, and the pregnant. His book, ‘Latest Public Health’, won a writing prize of the National Academy of Sciences and recognized for its achievement. Due to these efforts of Professor E Hyok Kwon, the health science could become one of the liberal arts opened and operated the most commonly in different universities and graduate schools. As well as academic activities that developed and established health science in Korea for 30 years, he established the public health system in Korea and contributed to the improvement of public health greatly, by serving as the minister of health and social affairs (1988). With the development of major technologies related to improvement of public health including nutrition, environment, disease control, population medicine, food public hygiene control, safety and effectiveness control of drug and special disease control, he led polity development, promoted and developed scientific movement of health administration and completed medical security system for all people.
Pioneer of medical education in Korea who has given efforts to develop training system curricula and instructor
Professor E Hyok Kwon is considered as a pioneer who opened a new horizon of medical education in Korea. Until the early 1970s, the medical education system in Korea was considered to follow that in the Japanese colonial era in spite of a little advancement in some curriculum. In these conditions, he promoted research projects for the overall reorganization of the medical education system. He emphasized the system development of the teacher training system for learning and education principles as well as the reorganization of the curriculum. He carried out a reorganization of curriculum that establish and operate integrated subjects (namely Block Lecture) for the first time in Korea, developed teacher training system, and has established and operated ‘medical education training center’ responsible for training education on learning and education principle subject to professors of medical schools up to now. The medical education training system created by his efforts became a decisive base for Korean Medicine to jump up to the global level in terms of research, education and manpower development.
Then, he was appointed to the 10th chairman of Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST) and proposed creation of the deputy prime minister system responsible for science and technology as a measure to meet the needs of the times that should find the driving force for growth of Korea in innovation of science and technology (1992). As a result, the elevation of the minister of science and technology to the deputy prime minister-level was accomplished, which helped greatly extension of scientists’ interests. He pushed forward the construction of science and technology hall for scientists and engineers in 1990 and completed it in 1995 to accommodate international and domestic events related to science and technology and play a ground-breaking role in creating climates for the promotion of science and technology.
Prepared the climate for promotion of science and technology and the basis for self-reliance of Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies
A pioneering role in initiating non-governmental exchange of science and technology between South and North Korea was one of his indispensable achievements In order to carry forward non-governmental exchange and cooperation between South and North Korean scientists, joint study and communication of study results in natural science filed, he founded a Council for South-North Non-governmental Interchange of Science and Technology in April 1990, invited scientists and engineers from North Korea to the ‘8.15 Pan-National Rally’ in the same year and proposed formal interchange based on organization of consultation group between Joseon Federation of Science and Technology Societies and KOFST. Although the invitation was not accomplished, the first formal meeting of South and North Korean scientist was achieved in 1991 China International Science and Technology Conference’ held in Yangi-si, Jilin Province on Aug 19, 1991.
He carried forward several national projects including the construction of comprehensive environmental research complex, modernization of pollution measuring equipment, and reinforcement of investigational research projects by compiling a budget for supporting research and development of environmental technology during his tenure of the office as the minister of environment. Additionally, he also constructed infrastructure to promote the development of low-pollution technology, including the creation of the Special Commission on International Environmental Agreement and the establishment of an industry-university-institute collaboration research system with the environmental research center of KIST.