President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sept. 10 shake hands for cameras at their bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economies summit in New Delhi, India. (Kim Yong Wii from Office of the President)

By Lee Dasom
 

President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will receive a special International Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Library Foundation of the U.S.

The Boston-based foundation on Sept. 19 announced this year's honorees, praising both leaders for their contributions to improving ties between their countries, the Office of the President in Seoul said.

Since 1990, the foundation has given the annual awards to politicians and officials displaying courage in leadership. The honor is named after the book "Profiles in Courage" written by the 35th U.S. president whom the foundation is named after.

Previous recipients include Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year, former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2017, former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2014 and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2002. Fifty-eight people received the awards from 1990 through last year.

On the same day, President Yoon said on his X (formerly Twitter) account, "Greatly honored to be nominated for the '2023 Profile in Courage Award' with Prime Minister Kishida," he said on his X (formerly Twitter) feed. "I am confident that continued improvement of (Korea-Japan) relations and a closer (Korea, U.S. and Japan) cooperation will contribute to promoting freedom, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond."

The Office of the President said, "President Yoon's award shows how that the entire world as well as the U.S. highly values his political determination and leadership that enabled groundbreaking improvement of Korea-Japan relations and historic progress leading to the summit of Korea, Japan and the U.S. at Camp David."

In addition to President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida, five female senators in South Carolina -- Katrina Shealy, Penry Gustafson, Margie Bright Matthews, Mia McLeod and Sandy Senn -- who formed a bipartisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state also received the honor. 

The awards ceremony will be held on Oct. 29 at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

dlektha0319@korea.kr