Badminton's An Se-young, professor Kim Do-hyung win Pony Chung Young Leader Award
In short
The Pony Chung Foundation said on Oct. 7 that it has selected badminton national team player An Se-young and Kim Do-hyung, a professor of chemistry and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, as winners of the 7th Pony Chung Young Leader Award. Each winner receives 50 million won and a plaque at a ceremony scheduled for Nov. 25 at the Pony Chung Hall in I-Park Tower, Seoul.
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The Pony Chung Foundation said on Oct. 7 that it has selected badminton national team player An Se-young and Kim Do-hyung, a professor of chemistry and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, as winners of the 7th Pony Chung Young Leader Award. The foundation said the award goes to two innovators aged 40 or under each year, and that each winner receives 50 million won and a plaque. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
The foundation credited An Se-young with being selected for the national team as a teenager and with winning the 2019 French Open as its youngest champion, gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, world championship titles in 2023 and 2026, gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics and gold at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, saying she raised Korean badminton's standing. Newsis reported that she won the Asian Games women's singles final on Sept. 29 against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 2-0, at 21-17 and 21-9, and said she was the first to win back-to-back Asian Games women's singles titles; the outlet also reported her return through Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 on Sept. 30 and an interview with reporters there. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
Kim was described by the foundation as leading the Nano Electrochemistry and Interface Laboratory, known as KLEIN Lab, where the atomic-scale reaction sites on the surface of solid catalysts are mapped to raise the efficiency of energy conversion and chemical manufacturing reactions. The foundation cited about 15,000 paper citations, a number of papers in Nature and Science, and his selection in October last year for the Packard Science and Engineering Fellowship. Asia Economy reported that he joined the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant professor in 2022. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
Chung Mong-kyu, chairman of the Pony Chung Foundation, said An Se-young overcame constant pressure and injuries to rise to the top of her sport and called her a female talent and a pioneer, and described Kim as a next-generation scientist creating new principles for sustainable energy and chemical processes. He said both winners represent the Pony Chung spirit of challenge, innovation and social contribution. Hankook Ilbo reported separately that An Se-young had shown conviction about long-standing practices in Korean sports and gained the support of younger generations, a point the other documents do not raise. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
The award ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 25 at the Pony Chung Hall in I-Park Tower, Seoul. The award was created in 2020 in memory of Chung Se-young, honorary chairman of HDC Group and former head of Hyundai Industrial Development, who founded Hyundai Motor. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
Why it matters
The award is given by a foundation linked to Chung Se-young, founder of Hyundai Motor, and the announcement was carried mainly by Korean national and business outlets, giving it weight as a domestic recognition of younger figures rather than an international event. An Se-young's selection follows her gold medal at the September Asian Games, keeping her in domestic news, while Kim Do-hyung's selection puts a Korean researcher based in the United States before a general Korean audience.
Key facts
- The Pony Chung Foundation announced on Oct. 7 that An Se-young and Kim Do-hyung are the winners of the 7th Pony Chung Young Leader Award. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- An Se-young is a member of the national badminton team; Kim Do-hyung is a professor of chemistry and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
- The foundation cited An Se-young's titles including the 2019 French Open as youngest winner, gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, world championship titles in 2023 and 2026, gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics and gold at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
- The foundation said Kim Do-hyung leads the KLEIN Lab and maps atomic-scale reaction sites on solid catalyst surfaces to improve energy conversion and chemical manufacturing efficiency. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
- The foundation cited Kim's roughly 15,000 paper citations, publications in Nature and Science, and his selection in October last year for the Packard Science and Engineering Fellowship. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
- The award, created in 2020, goes to two innovators aged 40 or under, each receiving 50 million won and a plaque. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
- The award ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 25 at the Pony Chung Hall in I-Park Tower, Seoul. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The Pony Chung Foundation selected An Se-young and Kim Do-hyung as the 7th Pony Chung Young Leader Award winners. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- The award was created in 2020 and gives 50 million won and a plaque to each of two winners aged 40 or under. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
- The ceremony is to be held on Nov. 25 at the Pony Chung Hall in I-Park Tower, Seoul. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
- Kim Do-hyung is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania working on catalysts and energy conversion. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
- An Se-young won the women's singles title at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- Chung Mong-kyu, chairman of the Pony Chung Foundation, said both winners represent the Pony Chung spirit of challenge, innovation and social contribution. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
Still unclear
- Hankook Ilbo describes An Se-young as having voiced convictions about chronic practices in Korean sports and gaining the support of younger generations, without saying what she said or when. Only one outlet mentions this, and no other document describes it or links it to the award citation.
- The documents differ on how An Se-young's career is described: most say she was selected for the national team as a teenager, while Hankook Ilbo says she grew into a world-class player in her twenties. The two accounts of her career are not reconciled in the documents.
- Newsis published only photo captions with its report, and Seoul Shinmun's item carried a headline with no article text. Neither document contains the foundation's announcement text, so their details could not be checked against the fuller reports.
- No document states the ages of the two winners, the number of candidates considered, or selection criteria beyond the under-40 rule. Not reported by any outlet in the documents.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yonhap publishes the foundation's announcement of the two award winners. [ 1 ]
- Asia Economy reports the selection, including the Nov. 25 ceremony date. [ 2 ]
- Newsis publishes its report, referring to An Se-young's Asian Games women's singles title. [ 3 ]
- Hankook Ilbo reports the selection and notes An Se-young's stance on practices in domestic sports. [ 4 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun publishes its report on the award. [ 5 ]
- Seoul Shinmun carries the story under a headline version of the same announcement. [ 6 ]