| Kim Ung-yong | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 김웅용 |
| Hanja | 金雄鎔 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Ung-yong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Ung'yong |
Kim Ung-Yong (born March 8, 1962) is a Korean former child prodigy. Kim was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records under "Highest IQ"; the book estimated the boy's score at about 210.[1]
Shortly after birth, Kim began to display extraordinary intellectual ability. He began speaking at 2 months, could converse fluently by 6 months, and was able to read Japanese, Korean, German, and English by his second birthday. Furthermore, it took him about a month to learn a foreign language. After 7 months he learned concepts of Algebra and could understand concepts of differential calculus. At the age of four, on November 2, 1967, he solved complicated differential and integral calculus problems on Japanese television. Even in early childhood, he began to write poetry and was an amazing painter.[2]
Kim was a guest student of physics at Hanyang University auditing courses from the age of 4 until he was 7. In 1970, at the age of 8, he was invited to the United States by NASA, where he finished his university studies. In 1974, during his university studies, he began his research work at NASA and continued this work until his return to Korea in 1978.[3]
Back in Korea, he decided to switch from physics to civil engineering at Colorado State University and eventually received a doctorate in that field [4]. He eventually published about 90 papers on hydraulics in scientific journals.[3] As of 2007[update] he also serves as adjunct faculty at Chungbuk National University.