Bak at Swedish Embassy wins royal honor

Bak Hyun-jung

By Kim Se-jeong

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf awarded Bak Hyun-jung, the director of press, culture and information at the Swedish Embassy in Seoul, the Royal Order of the Polar Star.

Bak is the first woman and the youngest Korean recipient to win the honor.

The press release said the 48-year-old’s exceptional contribution to Sweden and the promotion of cultural exchange between the two countries were taken into consideration.

“Normally this award is given to outstanding persons when they retire, but even though Bak still has many years left of an active professional life, her effort to promote Sweden have been deemed so exceptional by the King that she is awarded the Order of the Polar Star at a young age,” the Ambassador Lars Danielsson was quoted as saying.

Bak joined the embassy in 1989 right after college. In no other country is her position held by local staff, according to the embassy.

Bak has organized various cultural events including, last year, the state visit by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

“No words could possible describe how thankful I am. I just enjoyed what I was doing. I have organized award ceremonies for previous awardees. I never imagined I could be a recipient,” Bak told The Korea Times.

The royal order was created by King Frederik I in 1748, and is given only to foreign nationals who are not heads of state. Former recipients include Lee Se-ung, chairman of the Shin-il Corporation and the Korea-Sweden Cultural Society; Pyun Kwang-soo, a former professor at the department of Scandinavian language at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies; and Kang Dein, head of the Daniel Medical Center and Bucheon Geriatric Hospital.