The Korean delegation achieved its best-ever performance at the 26th Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO), winning eight gold medals.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) said Friday that 10 members of the Korean delegation received medals at the APhO, which concluded the previous day in Busan. Gold medals went to Kim Mu-yeon, Park Jun-hyun, Oh Ju-ha, Lee Kwon-heon, Lee Seung-jun and Jeong Min-kwon (all third-year students at Seoul Science High School), Han Jun-woo (second-year, Seoul Science High School) and Son Chae-min (first-year, Seoul Science High School). Lee Dong-geon, a third-year student at Shinsung High School, won a silver medal, while Song Min-gyu, a third-year student at Hyeonam High School, took a bronze.
A total of 16 Korean national team members competed in this year's contest. Eight were on the Challenge Team, selected through the International Physics Olympiad training program, and another eight were on the Dream Team, chosen via a nationwide competition open to high school students excluding those from science high schools and gifted schools. All members of the Challenge Team won gold medals, marking the country's best performance since it began participating in the event. The Dream Team also produced silver and bronze medalists.
The competition drew 208 participants from 27 countries, who competed in theoretical and experimental exams lasting five hours each. The theoretical exam included problems on the principles of balance scales, X-ray diffraction and magnetic resonance phenomena, while the experimental exam featured problems on water clocks and estimating unknown resistance.
