Kim Hwang-sik, who was prime minister during the Lee Myung-bak administration and recently touted as a possible candidate in the coming Seoul mayoral race, was awarded a prestigious medal by German Ambassador to South Korea Rolf Mafael on Jan. 23 for Kim’s part in promoting bilateral ties.

Mafael awarded Kim the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany during a private reception at the ambassador’s residence in the Seongbuk-dong neighborhood of Seoul. Senior politicians such as former Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan attended the ceremony.

Kim was recently cited in a flurry of media reports as a possible candidate for the conservative Saenuri Party in the mayoral race scheduled for this June. He has since dismissed speculation over a mayoral bid.

“Kim is both privately and publicly close to Germany. His contribution to academic exchange between Korea and Germany has been superb,” Mafael said in a press release by the embassy. “He published and lectured in both countries and helped develop mutual exchanges concerning politics and the civic societies of the two countries. I am glad that President (Jaochim) Gauck recognized his contribution to the relations between Korea and Germany.”

Kim played a significant role promoting academic and other people-to-people exchanges between Germany and South Korea by publishing books and delivering speeches both in South Korea and Germany.

After he left office in 2013, Kim conducted research on the unification of Germany, German politics and its welfare system at the Free University of Berlin for several months, according to the press statement.

Kim studied law at the Philipp University of Marburg, located in the German state of Hesse, from 1978 to 1979 with a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service.

Kim, also a former head of the Board of Audit and Inspection and a former chief justice, has been active in the German Korean Alumni Network, including his playing a leading role in organizing the annual ADEKO conference in 2009.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)