Dr. Soon-Kwon Kim, Distinguished Professor at Handong Global University and Chairman of the International Corn Foundation (ICF), is the scientist who developed a new hybrid corn by crossbreeding Korean and American varieties — producing corn that is significantly larger and far more resistant to disease and pests.
As corn yields increased, countless people were able to escape hunger. In recognition of his achievements, Dr. Kim was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Prize. Yet, then as now, he continues to devote himself to corn research with unwavering sense of mission. This paper seeks to introduce the God Dr. Kim encountered throughout his corn development journey, and to share his story of faith and life.
“We Repay the Debt of Love Our Nation Received — With Corn in Africa”
The Life Story of Dr. Soon-Kwon Kim, Chairman of the International Corn Foundation
Reunion in Pyongyang
In September 1998, during Dr. Kim’s fourth visit to North Korea, his wife, Eun-sil Han — who had been separated from her siblings at the age of one — was reunited with her older brother and sister in Pyongyang after 47 years. At the time, Dr. Kim fasted and persuaded North Korean leaders to allow elderly separated family members to meet again, ultimately receiving their approval.
Research to Combat Climate Change
In January this year, at the International Energy Conference held in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, Dr. Kim presented on “leafy” and “bm3” corn varieties designed to mitigate climate change.
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Leafy corn produces seven more leaves than conventional corn, making it suitable for bioenergy and high-quality livestock feed.
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bm3 genetic corn contains 20% less lignin in its stalks and leaves, increasing livestock digestibility by 20%.
To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the United States and China currently use 40% and 10% of their grain production respectively to produce bioethanol.
In Korea, supported by funding from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety under the project “Food Security and Peace for ASEAN Nations,” research is underway at ICF Bio Centers in Pohang and Cambodia to breed a combined “leafy + bm3” variety. If successful, hundreds of millions of tons of corn could be used for food, livestock feed, and industrial purposes — contributing simultaneously to climate change mitigation and resolution of the global food crisis. Considering that Korea’s self-sufficiency rate for feed corn is only 0.8%, this could spark a major agricultural revolution. As this is the world’s first attempt at such breeding research, it is extremely challenging, and Dr. Kim asks for continued prayers.
Renewed Work in China and Mongolia
After three years of interruption due to COVID-19, Dr. Kim recently signed an MOU with a breeding company in Heilongjiang Province, China, resuming research with over 2,000 genetic resources aimed at developing corn varieties for North Korea and China’s northeastern provinces.
By crossing a 15-year-developed China-Korea super corn with newly bred early-maturing, high-yield varieties, he hopes to spark a corn revolution in the region.
During a recent visit to Mongolia — his first in four years — Dr. Kim observed the foundation being laid for a shift from 800 years of nomadic livestock herding to a settled livestock system enabled by corn feed production. Mongolia currently has approximately 70 million livestock animals for a population of 3.5 million, largely due to overproduction of cashmere increasing goat numbers.
Contributions to East Timor and Korea
In 1998, following East Timor’s independence from Indonesia, Dr. Kim developed the “NAI” corn variety (meaning “honor” in the local language), which became the nation’s staple crop. Together with his former student Dr. Gladino from Kyungpook National University, he co-developed two safe, high-yield hybrid corn varieties named:
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Kim-Dino Hybrid Corn #1
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Kim-Dino Hybrid Corn #2
The nationwide distribution ceremony was attended by President José Ramos-Horta.
He also developed “Handong Black Corn,” effective in diabetes treatment, which achieved success in Jecheon, Chungbuk Province.
Calling to Serve Korea
While studying in the United States from 1971 to 1974 on a U.S. government scholarship, Dr. Kim realized that America’s prosperity was largely built on hybrid corn. Determined to help alleviate Korea’s “barley hump” period of poverty, he risked his life learning the technology.
In 1982, during his graduate studies in pathology at the University of Illinois, massive flooding struck Seoul. Upon hearing from an African friend that Koreans were dying in the floods, he sent all his savings — except $20 — to President Park Chung-hee.
Though he requested secrecy, he later received a letter of thanks from the President’s office.
Despite receiving a $3,000-per-month job offer from Pioneer Hi-Bred International — the world’s leading seed company — he declined and returned to Korea as a government agricultural researcher earning only $48 per month, choosing national service over personal wealth.
Within three years, he developed Suwon 19, 20, and 21 — Asia’s first yellow corn varieties adapted to Gangwon Province — tripling farmers’ income and increasing annual regional income by 40 billion KRW.
Mission to Africa
At his 1974 doctoral graduation in Hawaii, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria asked him to help save Africa from starvation. He promised to first succeed in Korea and then help Africa.
In 1979, with the conviction,
“We will repay the debt of love our nation received — with corn in Africa,”
he moved to Africa with his family.
Facing malaria and severe agricultural challenges — including Maize Streak Virus (MSV), Striga (“witchweed”), and drought — he developed symbiotic-resistant corn varieties and distributed them across Nigeria and the African continent.
“I boast of nothing except the cross,” he says, crediting God for the achievements.
Whenever he struggled in his research, he remembered Christ on the cross. He believed that if he worked well for just five minutes, 5,000 African children could live.
Six months after his arrival, IITA’s American director Dr. Bill Gamble personally petitioned Korean agricultural authorities to allow Dr. Kim to continue his work in Africa — enabling his lifelong mission.
Dr. Kim concludes:
“More than receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, the reunification of North and South Korea comes first.”
(Source : Christian Today | December 13, 2023 )
(“우리 민족이 받은 사랑의 빚을 아프리카에서 옥수수로 갚는다” : 사회 : 종교신문 1위 크리스천투데이 )
