James A. Van Fleet Award
The General James A. Van Fleet Award (Korean: 제임스 밴 플리트상), given annually since 1995 by The Korea Society, is awarded “to one or more distinguished Koreans or Americans in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the promotion of U.S.-Korea relations.” It is one of the most prestigious awards in the field of U.S.–Korea relations.
The award is named for General James A. Van Fleet, commander of the U.S. Eighth Army at the height of the Korean War in 1951. Beginning in 1957, General Van Fleet served as the first president of The Korea Society.
The award is formally presented to the recipient each year at The Korea Society's annual dinner.
Winners
- 1992 – Avery McConnell Leider (major, U.S. Army National Guard)
- 1995 – Chulsu Kim (deputy director-general, World Trade Organization)
- 1996 – Ambassador James T. Laney (U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea)
- 1997 – Pyong-Hwoi Koo (chairman, Korea International Trade Association)
- 1998 – Jong-Hyon Chey (chairman, SK Group) and Jeong H. Kim (president, Carrier Networks and DNS / Lucent Technologies)
- 1999 – William J. Perry (former U.S. secretary of Defense)
- 2000 – Jimmy Carter (former U.S. president)
- 2001 – Kim Kyung Won (president, Institute of Social Sciences)
- 2002 – Horace G. Underwood (director, Yonsei University)
- 2003 – Raymond G. Davis (retired general, United States Marine Corps)
- 2004 – Ban Ki-Moon (minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea)
- 2005 – George H.W. Bush (former U.S. president)
- 2006 – Lee Kun Hee (chairman, Samsung)
- 2007 - Kim Dae-jung (former president of the Republic of Korea and Houghton and Doreen Freeman (The Freeman Foundation)
- 2008 - Kevin O'Donnell (first country director, Peace Corps Korea) and Don Oberdorfer (chairman, U.S-Korea Institute)
- 2009 - Chung Mong-koo (chairman, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group) and Henry Kissinger (56th Secretary of State, The United States of America)
- 2010 - General Colin Powell (65th Secretary of State, The United States of America) and General Paik Sun Yup (Korean War Veteran, Military of South Korea)