President Yoon Suk Yeol conferred state awards on 34 meritorious people Friday, including a late South Korean doctor who dedicated his life to treating the sick in the Philippines. The 34 people, including three married couples, were chosen from among 912 recommendations made by the public between July 2022 and June 2023, the presidential office said. It is the 13th year the government has conferred state awards based on recommendations from the public. Park Byeong-chul, the doctor who ran a hospital in Manila and provided free treatment to vulnerable groups in more than 50 remote villages in the Philippines before his death in 2018, was posthumously awarded the Peony Medal of the Order of Civil Merit, the highest honor among the awards. Kwak Seong-hyeon, the late director of the Korea Abraham Lincoln Society, was awarded the Pomegranate Medal of the Order of Civil Merit, in recognition of her contributions to the development of science through her donations of land and funds to the Korea Advanced Institu te of Science and Technology and Seoul National University, respectively. Heo Bo-rok, a French priest who has run a children's shelter in South Korea for over 28 years, was also awarded the same medal. During the awards ceremony at the presidential office, Yoon stressed his administration's commitment to improving welfare services for the socially weak. "I have constantly been stressing freedom and solidarity," he said. "All of you have already practiced the values of this freedom and solidarity through your sharing and service in everyday life." Source: Yonhap News Agency
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