The Order of Cultural Merit () is one of South Korea's orders of merit. It is awarded by the President of South Korea for "outstanding meritorious services in the fields of culture and art in the interest of promoting the national culture and national development."(in English and Korean) Korea Legislation Research Institute. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
Grades The Order of Cultural Merit is conferred in five grades.
Grade Name Ribbon 1st Geumgwan () 2nd Eungwan () 3rd Bogwan () 4th Okgwan () 5th Hwagwan ()
Recipients
Geumgwan (Gold Crown), 1st Class Myung-whun Chung, 1996Askonas Holt, Myung-Whun Chung, biography ; retrieved 2011-05-10 Shin Sang-ok, 2006 Nam June Paik, 2007 "Nation honors late video artist Paik Nam-june a year after death," Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (ROK). February 1, 2007, retrieved 2011-04-22 Yu Hyun-mok, 2009Lee Hyo-won. "Late Film Director Yu to Get National Order of Culture Merit," Korea Times (ROK). June 29, 2009, retrieved 2011-04-22 Park Wan-suh, 2011Jang, Sung-eun. "Beloved Korean Novelist Dies At 80," Wall Street Journal (US). January 26, 2011. Youn Yuh-jung, 2021 Kim Uchang, 2022 Song Hae, 2022 (posthumous) Lee Jung-jae, 2022 Hwang Dong-hyuk, 2022 Sumi Jo, 2023 Lee Soon-jae, 2025 (posthumous) Kim Ji-mee, 2025 (posthumous) Ahn Sung-ki, 2026 (posthumous)
Eungwan (Silver Crown), 2nd Class Martina Deuchler, 1995Association for Asian Studies (AAS), 1997 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies ; retrieved 2011-05-31 Kim Duk-soo, 2007 Lee Mi-ja, 2009 Kun-Woo Paik, 2010 "Kun Woo Paik is awarded Order of Merit," ICA International Classical Artists (UK). 3 December 2010, citing "Pianist Paik Kun-woo honored," Korea Herald (ROK). 2 November 2010, retrieved 2011-04-22 Lee Soo-man, 2011 Shin Young-kyun, 2011 , 2011 Kim Ki-duk, 2012 Kim Soo-hyun, 2012 Kim Ku-lim, 2017 Cho Yong-pil, 2013 , 2013 Ahn Sung-ki, 2013 Patti Kim, 2013 , 2014 Song Hae, 2014 Choi Bul-am, 2014 Lee Soon-jae, 2018 soompi.com. retrieved 2018-10-25 Kim Min-ki, 2018 Bong Joon-ho, 2019 Kim Hye-ja, 2019 Yang Hee-eun, 2019 Ryu Je-dong, 2020 Go Doo-shim, 2020 Byun Hee-bong, 2020 Yoon Hang-gi, 2020 Han Cheol-hee, 2021 , 2021 Lee Choon-yeon, 2021 Park Chan-wook, 2022 Kang Soo-yeon, 2022 Kim Hae-sook, 2025
Bogwan (Precious Crown), 3rd Class Hai-Kyung Suh, 1980 Yanagi Sōetsu, 1984 Park Chan-wook, 2004 "`Old Boy' to Receive Order of Cultural Merit," Han Cinema (ROK). July 25, 2004, retrieved 2011-04-22 Park Jeong-ja, 2007 Shin Goo, 2010 Go Eun-jung, 2010 , 2010 Shin Jung-hyeon, 2011 , 2011 , 2011 Lee Ho-jae, 2011 Na Moon-hee, 2012 Song Chang-sik, 2012 Choi Eun-hee, 2014 , 2014 , 2014 Kadir Topbaş, 2014 Kim Young-ok, 2018 Im Ha-ryong, 2020 Song Jae-ho, 2021 Park In-hwan, 2021 Noh Hee-gyeong, 2021 Song Kang-ho, 2022 Park Jin-sook, 2022 Huh Young-man, 2022 Lee Byung-hun, 2025 Jung Dong-hwan, 2025
Okgwan (Jeweled Crown), 4th Class Kang Soo-yeon, 1987 Moon So-ri, 2002 Choi Min-sik, 2004 — Choi Min-sik returned the decoration badge in 2006, protesting large cuts in support programs for the arts programs of the Korean government."'Old Boy' Returns Medal in Screen Quota Protest," Chosun Ilbun (ROK). February 7, 2006. Lee Byung-hoon, 2006 Jeon Do-yeon, 2007 Anthony Graham Teague, 2008 Park Jae-sang (Psy), 2012 Lee Jung-jin, 2012 Jo Min-su, 2012 Song Kang-ho, 2019 Kwon Ji-yong, 2025 Maggie Kang, 2025
Hwagwan (Flower Crown), 5th Class Ji-young Kim, 1998"Korean National Ballet, Principal Dancers" Korean National Ballet website. retrieved 2012-11-27 Bae Yong-joon, 2008Han Sang-hee. "Bae Receives National Order of Culture Merit," Korea Times (ROK). October 19, 2008, retrieved 2011-04-22 BTS, 2018: Kim Nam-joon (RM), Kim Seok-jin (Jin), Min Yoon-gi (Suga), Jung Ho-seok (J-Hope), Park Ji-min (Jimin), Kim Tae-hyung (V) and Jeon Jung-kook (Jung Kook) O Yeong-su, 2019 Choi Soo-jung, 2024
Class unknown Samuel Martin, 1994Martin, Samuel Elmo. ( 1996).
Notes
References
Bibliography Korean Overseas Information Service. (1997) A Handbook of Korea, 6th edition. Seoul, Korea: Seoul International Publishing House.
External links