What is Seoul Peace Prize?

Seoul, Feb 21: The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul, Korea, an event in which 160 nations from across the world took part, creating harmony and friendship.

The significance of the Seoul Olympic Games rests in the fact that the games heralded the termination of age-old political and ideological conflict between the East and the West, fostering a worldwide atmosphere of peace and reconciliation. It also served as an occasion to confirm the possibility of achieving world peace through mutual understanding and cooperation.

The success of the Seoul Olympics has a particular meaning to the Korean people whose yearning for peace has been born of an especially challenging history. The Seoul Peace Prize was established to reflect the wishes of the people and to crystallize their desire for ever-lasting peace on earth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 14th recipient of the Seoul Peace Prize.

List of the Seoul Peace Prize laureates

• 1990/09/25: The first Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch
• 1992/10/05: The second Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Dr. George P. Shultz (former U.S. Secretary of State))
• 1996/10/11: The 3rd Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) (President : Dr. Philippe Biberson)
• 1998/10/23: The 4th Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Mr. Kofi Annan (U.N. Secretary-General))
• 2000/10/13: The 5th Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Mrs. Sadako Ogata (U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees))
• 2002/09/26: The 6th Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Oxfam (Director : Dr. Barbara Stocking))
• 2004/10/15: The 7th Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Mr. Václav Havel (Former President of the Czech Republic))
• 2006/10/19 : The 8th Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Dr. Muhammad Yunus(Founder of the Grameen Bank))
• 2008/10/07: The 9th Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Ms. Suzanne Scholte (President of Defence Forum Foundation)
• 2010/10/27: The 10th Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu(Founder of El Sistema)
• 2012/10/29 : The 11th Seoul Peace Prize was awarded to Mr. Ban Ki-moon(Secretary-General of the United Nations)
• 2016/11/2 : The 12th prize was awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege(Director of Panzi Hospital)
• 2016/10/6: The 13th prize was awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege(Director of Panzi Hospital)