Five people received awards from the Ho-Am Foundation in Seoul on Friday, at an event attended by 550 people including Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee.

At the event marking its 22nd anniversary, the prizes were given to Kim Min-hyong in the field of science, Hyeon Taeg-hwan in engineering, Jung Jae-ung in medicine, Chin Un-suk in arts and Lee Dong-han in community service.

The awardees each received 300 million won ($265,000) in prize money and pure gold medals.

“Talented people are the drivers of competitiveness in a nation that puts an emphasis on value-based management in the 21st century,” said Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik in a congratulatory message at the event.

“The Ho-Am Foundation is contributing to the development of welfare and society by nurturing talent in the fields of academia, arts and social development since the 1990s.”

The Ho-Am Prize, established by chairman Lee in 1990, has awarded 111 people with a vision to build a new corporate culture that aims to support the spirit of public service pushed by late Samsung chairman Lee Byung-chull.

This year’s recipients were picked from a pool of 35 judges divided into seven sectors during a four-month evaluation period. Then they were confirmed through a final deliberation by the Ho-Am Prize Committee, according to Samsung Group officials.

The event was attended by many well-known figures from the government, law, finance, academia, as well as cultural, social and medical representatives. They included Prime Minister Kim, Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lee Bae-yong, chair of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding, STX Group chairman Kang Duk-soo and Woori Financial Group chairman Lee Pal-seung.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)