KBS, the state-run public service TV and radio network, has recognized several overseas Koreans for their contributions to the nation’s image.

The KBS Overseas Compatriots Award is given to ethnic Koreans living overseas who have done an exemplary job of promoting the image, people and culture of Korea.

In the 15th such awards ceremony held on Wednesday at KBS in Seoul, former professor at the University of Wisconsin Lee Dong-heon won the award in the humanities and social sciences category.

The science and technology award went to Professor Cheong Sang-Wook from Rutgers University. In the arts and culture category, Professor Park Yeong-hui from the prestigious German university Hochschule fur Kunst Bremen won the award.

The social service award went to an association for the building of homes for elderly ethnic Koreans in Japan. And Han Soknan, the head of the Gender Equality and Diversity Unit of the United Nations Development Program, received this year’s special award.