Merck honors Korean scholars for display technology breakthroughs in AI era

Kyungpook National University professor Kim Hak-rin, left, Yun Yong-Kuk of Merck Optronics Korea, center, and Seoul National University professor Lee Soo-yeon pose for a photo at the 2026 International Meeting on Information Display in Busan. Courtesy of Merck Korea

Two Korean professors whose research could help redefine how displays work in an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven era have received Merck’s top honors for display technology.

Merck Korea said Thursday that Kim Hak-rin of Kyungpook National University received the 2026 Merck Award for his work advancing display optics based on liquid-crystal materials.

Kim’s research spans active polarization-switching optics, geometric-phase optical devices, holographic imaging and extended-reality display optics, with a focus on technologies for next-generation glasses and holographic displays.

Kim said he would work to help maintain Korea’s global competitiveness in immersive and spatial display technologies.

Lee Soo-yeon of Seoul National University received the 2026 Merck Young Scientist Award for research on oxide thin-film transistor devices and circuits used in next-generation displays and semiconductor technologies.

Lee’s work includes oxide TFT reliability, display-driving circuits, device-aging compensation and low-power neuromorphic systems, extending research that began with display technologies into applications related to artificial intelligence.

Lee said she would continue working to connect device-level research with circuits and systems in ways that are scientifically meaningful and useful in practice.

The awards were announced as the International Meeting on Information Display 2026, organized by the Korean Information Display Society, which runs through Friday at BEXCO in Busan.

Merck established the Merck Award at the International Meeting on Information Display in 2004. They added the Merck Young Scientist Award in 2006 and expanded the awards this year to include optoelectronics technology.

Merck Science Connect is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at BEXCO under the theme “The Evolution of Displays: Integrating Multifunctionality for a Future AI Era.”

The session will bring together Merck and industry experts to discuss display technologies, switchable privacy modes, high-resolution patterning and the convergence of displays with AI-era applications.

Merck Korea Managing Director Kim Woo-kyu said displays remain a cornerstone of the company’s electronics business as Merck expands into semiconductor metrology and inspection and other optoelectronics technologies.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.