The Bulletin to be awarded the Miwon Peace Prize

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is deeply honored to be the recipient of the second Miwon Peace Prize from the Kyung Hee University System. The award recognizes the Bulletin‘s more than eighty-year commitment to translating scientific knowledge into action for peace, security, and the future of humanity.

Irina Bokova, former Director-General of UNESCO and Selection Committee Chair, said at the announcement event that, “Through rigorous scientific analysis, the Bulletin has raised global awareness of existential risks-including nuclear weapons, climate change, and disruptive technologies-helping policymakers and the public pursue informed actions for peace and human security based on science.”

The prize is named after Dr. Young Seek Choue (Miwon, 1921-2012), the founder of the Kyung Hee University System, and a leading global advocate for peace. He dedicated his life to the “creation of a civilized world” and argued that “we must change the human mind by cultivating a peace philosophy.”

The prize includes a generous financial award of $200,000 made possible by the Miwon Peace Prize Foundation and the Kyung Hee Alumni Association in North America. That grant will empower the Bulletin to further engage the global public on existential risk, and expert-guided solutions to reduce those risks.

“We are both humbled to receive this honor and grateful for the recognition. For eighty years, we have tracked, monitored, and outlined the nature of human-caused existential threats to a global audience, but that has always been just a part of our mission. Fundamentally, we are focused on identifying solutions – the pragmatic and actionable steps we can all take to reduce and eventually eliminate those threats. Receiving the Miwon Peace Prize is a validation of our unrelenting efforts to move back the hands of the Doomsday Clock,” said Bulletin president and CEO Alexandra Bell.

A delegation from the Bulletin will travel to Korea this fall to formally accept the award at the Peace BAR Festival at Kyung Hee University. Fittingly, the prize will be awarded on September 21st, the International Day of Peace. Dr. Young Seek Choue first called for such a day on June 29th, 1981; the same year he successfully pushed for a United Nations-declared Year of Peace. Now the International Day of Peace occurs every year and is marked around the world with peacebuilding activities from the UN, governments, and local communities.