Former Yonsei Professor Kim Yong-sop and SKKU Emeritus Professor Song Jae-so Were Awarded The 2009 Yongjae Prize award ceremony was held on 16 March at Luce Chapel, Yonsei University. University President Kim Han-joong, Seo Jung-suk, Vice President for Administration and Development, Shin Myung-soon, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Baek Young-seo, head of the Institute of Korean Studies and other honored guests attended at the ceremony. Yongjae Prize, celebrating its 15th anniversary, is established in his 100th anniversary to commemorate and promote Yongjae Nak Joon Baek's achievements. Yongjae Nak Joon Baek was the first president of Yonsei University and dedicated his life to the advancement of the nation's higher education and the development of Korean studies. This year's prize recipients are Kim Yong-sop, a former history professor at Yonsei, and Song Jae-so, an emeritus professor at SKKU (Sungkyunkwan University). Dr. Kim Yong-sop, who received Yongjae Academic Achievement Award, graduated as a historian from Seoul National University in 1955, and earned Ph.D in Korean Literature in Classical Chinese at Yonsei University in 1983. He was appointed as professor at Seoul National University in 1958, and served as professor of history at Yonsei from 1975 to 1997. From 1960s, Kim Yong-sop tried to move beyond the colonial slant of Korean historiography planted by the Japanese scholars, and contributed a great deal to filling the academic gap inevitably created under Japanese colonial reign. He also made keen contribution to establishing new historical consciousness among Koreans. Focusing on the social change caused by alterations of rural economy, he gave light to the existence of the class of well-to-do farmers who played a vital role in the dismantling of feudal society in the 17th to 19th century in his studies of agricultural structure of late Chosun period. He also made an outstanding contribution to understanding the changes in agrarian society and culture in the early modern period, which started from his theoretical inquiries in agricultural history of late Chosun to find out the nature of Donghak Peasant War, which was a project he continued throughout his academic career. Professor Song Jae-so, who is appointed as a Yongjae Chair Professor, graduated from Seoul National University with a major in English Literature and went on to receive a doctorate degree for Korean Literature. He established the department of Korean Literature in Classical Chinese Language and Literature while serving as a professor of Education in Classical Chinese from 1980. He also served as presidents of various academic societies and made efforts to communicate with foreign scholars while actively working as exchange professor at the Peking Normal University and National Chengchi University in Taiwan. He wrote many books on Silhak Scholars in late Chosun. His academic achievements in Korean Literature in Classical Chinese and Silhak are reflected in his distinguished publications.