The Korean Mathematical Society(KMS) said the International Mathematical Union(IMU) has raised South Korea’s status in the organization to its uppermost tier after highly assessing the nation’s mathematical excellence. 

The KMS said Thursday that the union promoted South Korea to Group Five from Group Five earlier on Tuesday, adding that it has become the first country in the union to see its status raised to the highest level in the shortest period of time. 

South Korea became a member in 1981 and started off in Group One. South Korea is among twelve Group Five members, who pay 12 times as much in subsidies as Group One nations, and are awarded more voting rights.

The society said the promotion came after it requested it from the IMU last November and after member states voted on the matter. Founded in 1920, the IMU is composed of some 80 member countries. 

The union awards the Fields Medal every four years during the International Congress of Mathematicians to recognize outstanding achievements in the field and for the potential for future achievement. The medal is regarded as one of the highest honors a mathematician can receive, and has been described as the Nobel Prize of mathematics.

South Korea now counts itself among the 12 countries in the IMU’s Group Five, which also include Brazil, Canada, China, France and Germany. Each country gets the corresponding number of votes as its group designation.