The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science & Creativity (KOSAC) said on the 22nd that all six members of the Korea team won prizes at the 67th International Mathematical Olympiad held in Shanghai, China, on the 10th–21st.
In this competition, which drew 666 participants from 117 countries, the Korea team saw students Byeon Seo-jin (Sejong Science High School, 10th grade), Sim Seong-jin (Seoul Science High School, 10th grade), and Lee Hyeon-jun (Seoul Science High School, 12th grade) win gold medals; students Kim Dong-hyeon (Seoul Science High School, 11th grade) and Hong Seung-uk (Seoul Science High School, 11th grade) win silver medals; and student Kim Chae-min (Seoul Science High School, 10th grade) receive an honorable mention.
In particular, student Lee Hyeon-jun earned a perfect score of 42 points to tie for first place individually, also setting a record of competing for two consecutive years and winning gold both years. This math Olympiad featured six problems (seven points each) across algebra, combinatorics, geometry, and number theory, and was held over two days with 4 hours and 30 minutes each day. Three students from China, two from the United States, and one from the United Kingdom also received perfect scores and tied for first.
By country score, China ranked first with 232 points. Next were the United States (207), Russia (196), Singapore (169), Vietnam (168), Korea (167), India (166), North Korea and the United Kingdom (163), and Japan (159), placing second through 10th.
Song Yong-jin, head of the Korea team (professor, Department of Mathematics, Inha University), said, "Competition among countries to nurture global math talent is growing more intense by the day," adding, "Based on the valuable experience and asset gained at this competition, I hope the students will grow splendidly into future leaders who will shoulder Korea's basic science." Samsung Electronics sponsored the Korea team for the math Olympiad.
Meanwhile, after this International Mathematical Olympiad, the Korea team plans to compete in successive International Science Olympiads this year, including informatics (Aug. 9–16), earth science (Aug. 20–27), and astronomy and astrophysics (Sept. 25–Oct. 5).