Naval officers gain world academic recognition

Commander Lim Se-han, left, and Lieutenant Commander Kim Ok-hee pose for a photo at the ROK Naval Academy in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Navy

By Jun Ji-hye

Two naval officers, who currently serve as professors at the ROK Naval Academy, have gained recognition from the international academic community for their scientific research.

Commander Lim Se-han, 42, who teaches oceanography, will be entered into Marquis Who’s Who 2016 in recognition of a research thesis he wrote titled “Climatology of the Mixed Layer Depth in the East Sea.”

Lim was the lead author of a paper released in 2012.

Marquis Who’s Who has published biographical references of notable people throughout the world since 1899, initially in print, and now by means of an online database.

His paper was published in The Journal of Marine Systems, a world renowned academic journal in the field of oceanography. Global scholars have consistently cited Lim’s research in their studies.

“When I was serving as a combat trooper in a patrol killer and an officer in a destroyer, I received commissioned education on issues related to oceanography in the wake of the invasion of a North Korean submarine in 1996,” Lim said. “I want to contribute to improving anti-submarine capabilities of ROK Navy through consistent research.”

In September 1996, a North Korean submarine ran aground in South Korean waters off Gangneung in Gangwon Province. Eleven of the 25 crew who came ashore were found shot dead, while South Korean troops killed another 13 and captured one alive after a massive manhunt. Twelve South Korean soldiers died during the operation.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander Kim Ok-hee, 34, also teaching oceanography at the Naval Academy, had her paper published in Scientific Reports, a primary research journal from the publishers of Nature.

Titled “Facile and Gram-scale synthesis of Metal-free Catalysts: Toward Realistic Applications for Fuel Cells,” the paper was drawn up while she was in the doctorial course of Seoul National University.

During the research, Kim developed a catalyst composed of nitrogen and carbon, and academically established a measure to synthesize it in large quantities.

“I am hoping to play a role in developing technologies to build submarines as a plenty of fuel cells are used in our subs,” she said.

Kim is also famous as the first-ever female professor of science and engineering department in the history of the Naval Academy.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye.