Korean Mathematical Society

Korean Mathematical Society
Name	Korean Mathematical Society
Native name	대한수학회
Founded	1946
Headquarters	Seoul
Type	Learned society
Fields	Mathematics

Contents

Korean Mathematical Society

The Korean Mathematical Society is a national learned society dedicated to advancing mathematics in South Korea. It serves researchers, educators, and students by promoting mathematical research, coordinating Seoul National University collaborations, supporting participation in International Mathematical Olympiad, and advising bodies such as Ministry of Education (South Korea), National Research Foundation of Korea, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The Society links Korean institutions including Yonsei University, Korea University, POSTECH, Sungkyunkwan University with international organizations like the International Mathematical Union, European Mathematical Society, American Mathematical Society.

History

Founded in 1946 amid reconstruction after Liberation of Korea (1945), the Society arose as academics from Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University and research centers sought to rebuild academic life following the Pacific War and the end of Japanese rule in Korea. Early leaders came from faculties associated with Keijo Imperial University alumni and wartime émigrés who later worked at Kyoto University, University of Tokyo, Cornell University, Princeton University, and University of Chicago. The Society organized its first national meeting in the late 1940s and published early bulletins inspired by models from the Royal Society, American Mathematical Society, Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung. During the Korean War, activities were disrupted but revived in the 1950s with support from institutions such as Severance Hospital affiliates and exchange programs with Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Subsequent decades saw expansion alongside the growth of Korea University, the rise of POSTECH in the 1980s, and increased ties to regional bodies like the Asian Mathematical Congress and initiatives modeled after the Fields Medal process. Major milestones include establishment of national journals patterned after Journal of the American Mathematical Society and creation of student competitions paralleling the International Mathematical Olympiad.

The Society is governed by an elected council drawn from faculty at institutions such as Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, POSTECH, Sungkyunkwan University, and research institutes like Korea Institute for Advanced Study and Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. Its statutes define officer roles similar to those used by the American Mathematical Society, London Mathematical Society, and Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung, including a president, vice presidents, a secretary-general, and standing committees for publications, education, and finance. Annual elections are influenced by networks in Korean Academy of Science and Technology and interlock with advisory posts at ministries including Ministry of Science and ICT (South Korea). Regional chapters coordinate with provincial universities such as Chonnam National University, Pohang University of Science and Technology and professional societies like Korean Physical Society.

Programs include research seminars hosted at venues like Seoul National University, summer schools influenced by formats at Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, and outreach modeled on London Mathematical Society public events. The Society runs education programs for teachers in partnership with Korea National University of Education and competitive training for students participating in the International Mathematical Olympiad, the Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad, and national contests coordinated with the Korea Science Academy of KAIST. It organizes workshops in areas linked to institutions such as Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, LG Sciencepark, and collaborates with centers like Korea Institute of Science and Technology on applied mathematics programs. The Society sponsors thematic research networks in algebra, analysis, combinatorics, geometry, number theory, topology and applied mathematics with participants from Princeton University, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University of Oxford, and leading Asian universities including Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Tokyo.

The Society publishes peer-reviewed journals modeled on leading periodicals such as Annals of Mathematics, Journal of the American Mathematical Society, and regional titles akin to Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées. Its flagship journals feature contributions from scholars affiliated with Seoul National University, KAIST, POSTECH, Yonsei University and international authors from MIT, Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, ETH Zurich, École Normale Supérieure. It also issues newsletters, monograph series, and problem books used by participants in competitions like the International Mathematical Olympiad and regional contests such as the Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad. Editorial boards include former members of institutions such as University of Chicago, Columbia University, Brown University, University of Toronto.

The Society organizes national meetings and specialist conferences with formats similar to the International Congress of Mathematicians sectional meetings, hosting plenary speakers from Fields Institute, Clay Mathematics Institute, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques. Annual awards recognize achievement comparable to prizes like the Fields Medal, Abel Prize, and national honors administered by bodies such as the Korean Presidential Science and Technology Awards. It confers early-career fellowships, lifetime achievement awards, and prizes for exposition and education; laureates include scholars who have also held posts at Princeton University, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, Kyoto University.

Category:Scientific societies Category:Mathematical societies Category:South Korean organisations