Researchers of the Environmental Cooperation Program from Seoul National University Asia Center (SNU Asia Center) has won the Science and Technology Distinguished Paper Award that is regarded with the greatest respect within Science and Technology studies in South Korea.

Researchers of Environment Cooperation Program from SNU Asia Center was nominated as the 29^th winner of the Distinguished Paper Award held by the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies.

The award, which is selected among the academic articles published in journals of science and technology last year after going through strict inspection by field experts and professional committees (1 article is chosen as a candidate per journal) is recognized as the most excellent academic award in Science and technology sectors in South Korea.

Environmental Cooperation Program won the award by submitting an article, “A Method for Predicting Soil Types in North Korea: Importance of North Korea Soil Properties and Prediction Soil Types,” (written by Soo Jin Park, Yoosoon An, Qiuhong Jin, Woo Jin Shim, Seung-jin Lee) in The Korean Geographical Society (Volume 53 and No. 5).

The paper has a significance as it was the very first academic and practical research that attempted to guess information about soil in North Korea. The information has been unavailable although it was necessary for inter-Korean cooperation in economic, agricultural, forestial cooperation.

Researchers of Environmental Cooperation Program developed an algorithm that predicts North Korean soil attributes through Catena method, which has been getting the spotlight in the field of predicting soil.

The developed method is expected to contribute to the sustainable development of the Korean peninsula in the age of the unification in the future.

When the period of inter-Korean interaction and cooperation unfolds, the method is expected to be not only a cornerstone of inter-Korean cooperation project by being used in the forestial and agricultural cooperation, but also contribute to the sustainable development of the Korean peninsula when the two Koreas unify in the future. Also, the method can be used in developing countries where prediction of soil is difficult like North Korea or by being exported and used to support the countries that have large territories.

The award ceremony will be held on July 4^th, 2019 in ‘2019 Korea Science and Technology Annual Meeting.’