The National Academy of Korean Engineering(NAKE), the Maeil Business Newspaper and SNU Engineering College had cooperated in selecting those 60 honorable people.

The ceremony was attended by the 60 engineers and the President of SNU. The Awardees who gave speech during the ceremony all mentioned that avoidance of engineering is affecting Korea's economy.

Park Tae-joon, POSCO honorary chairman and a worldwide steel magnate, pointed out,"Natural science is the core for an economy to attain its sustainable development. In that sense, it is worrisome that Korean students nowadays avoid majoring in natural sciences and engineering.

"Politicians should let the public know that natural science is the basis of the country's growth and that the reduced number of youths specializing in the field indicates the country is losing its growth engine.

"It is notable that almost all influential politicians in China are engineering college graduates. Compared to that, in Korea, engineering college graduates are left out in the cold."Yoon Jong-yong, Samsung Electronics vice-chairman and the NAKE president, who is regarded as"one of the best CEOs in Korea," also revealed his worry that Korean society is relatively inhospitable to engineers, when he said,"In the circumstance that the Korean economy has lost its drive to be in a slump, I worry that the country's industrial base may collapse because of the 'avoidance of engineering' that prevails in our society."

Kwon Ik-boo, an executive advisor at the Lotte R&D Center and a veteran in the domestic food industry, exclaimed,"The nation should have insight to prepare for its development, while the reality of our society is far from it. For example, artificialorgans are expected to be the motive power for industry in next ten years, but the government has not given its full support to the related projects."

The ceremony was attended by CEO of Kahee Kyeong Se-ho, president of Yupoong Jo Byeong-woo, honorary president of Kiturami Group Choi Jin-min, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics Yoon Jong-yong, Founder of Posco Park Tae-joon, Seoul National University President Lee Jang-moo, president of Jeon International Jeon Min-je, president of veteran group of KEPCO Seong Nak-jeong, former permanent advisor to Medison Lee Min-hwa, former vice-president of LG Chem Choi Nam-seok, president of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Hong Sun-ik, and managing director of Hynix Choi Jin-seok.

Dec.6, 2006