By Kim Ji-soo
A legal veteran who has served as head of Seoul Central District Court will be awarded his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Merced, next month, reports said.
The 73-year-old Kang Bong-soo was a noted judge who also served as head of the Daegu District Court, Busan District Court and Seoul High District Court. A native of Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, Kang had wanted to major in physics since a young age but was his father pushed him to pursue law. He is a graduate of Seoul National University’s College of Law. While he was in the legal profession, he and his wife set up a group home in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, to look after youths from shelters.
After retiring in 2000, he went for his Ph.D. studies in 2009 at the age of 66. He will be awarded his degree on May 15 for his work on particle accelerators, seven years after starting. He is also expected to pursue a postdoctoral program at UC Merced in the next year or two.