By Kim Tae Won and Yoon Sojung

Famous British physicist Stephen Hawking passed away at the age of 76 on March 14, leaving a great legacy in terms of research into the universe, despite having a type of motor neuron disease, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Hawking won recognition worldwide for his unique research into the origins of the universe, all while suffering from the disease for 55 years. After the news of his passing, many people in Korea also looked back on their memories of him, while mourning for his death.

Hawking had a history with Korea tracing back to 1990, two years after publishing his well-known book “A Brief History of Time” (1988).

In March 1990 when he first visited Korea, his lecture received a lot of attention. Thousands of people gathered at the venue for the lectures, titled “The Origin of the Universe” and “Black Holes and Baby Universes, and Other Essays.”

Hawking shared a friendship with former President Kim Dae-jung. Kim said in his autobiography that he lived right next to Hawking’s house when he was studying at Cambridge University in 1993, and that the two had meals together where they discussed the universe.

Thanks to such times, in September 2000 Hawking gave a lecture at Cheong Wa Dae upon an invitation from Kim when he took office. At Cheong Wa Dae, Hawking expressed his respect for President Kim’s efforts to resolve issues on the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. He even offered a copy of his book “The Illustrated A Brief History of Time” to President Kim.

In December 2001, Hawking and President Kim met again when the president received an honorary degree from Cambridge University.



Hawking’s books have been quite popular in the Korean market.

Some of his well-known books, including “A Brief History of Time” (1988), “The Illustrated A Brief History of Time” (1998) and "The Universe in a Nutshell” (2001), have been translated into Korean. Thousands of copies of these books are sold in Korea ever year, winning quite a lot of popularity. Among them, more than 100,000 copies of “A Brief History of Time” are sold every year, making the book one of the best-sellers in the humanities segment.

After news of Hawking’s passing, readers paid respect to him while looking back at his books. Leading online and offline book stores have reported that sales of his books have soared. At the websites of these book sellers, many people have expressed condolences on his passing.

President Moon Jae-in is among them. On his Facebook account on March 14, President Moon said, “Professor Hawking went back to the beginnings of the vast universe. It's marvelous that he overcame Lou Gehrig’s disease, from which he suffered since he was 21.”

“Hawking’s faith that we should neither be affected by bodily nor mental illness left a great mark on the history of science and of human beings,” said President Moon.

twkim0717@korea.kr