Kim Ung-Yong (Korean: 김웅용; born March 8, 1962)[1] is a South Korean civil engineer. During his youth, he was recognized as a child prodigy with the highest recorded IQ having scored above 210 on the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale, He entered university at the age of 4. At 7, he received an invitation to work at NASA. By the age of 5, he already spoke 5 languages.[2][3]
Kim Ung-Yong was born on March 8, 1962, in Seoul, South Korea.[1] His father, Kim Soo-Sun, was a physics professor at Konkuk University, and his mother, Yoo Myung-Hyun, was a teacher.[4] According to Yoo, by the time he was one year old, Kim had learned both the Korean alphabet and 1,000 Chinese characters by studying the Thousand Character Classic, a 6th-century Chinese poem.[5]
I was really lonely. No one ever made friends with me. After work hours, I could exercise and enjoy my hobbies, but no one could accompany me. I came from another country and I was young, so there were no seats for children even though everyone was an adult.
Kim allegedly went to study nuclear physics at the University of Colorado when he was eight years old, according to popular sources.[1] However, at the time of his college entrance exam's fitness section—where he gained much media attention—his father revealed to reporters that going to Japan to shoot the Fuji TV show was the "one and only time he went out of the country", and that the information of his Ph.D and master's degree progress in the States was "journalistic nonsense".[6] His statement that Kim did not leave at all is slightly detracted by the statement of Kim's mother, who stated that while he did "leave for a short moment to audit classes at the University of Colorado", he was returned immediately due to their facilities being "inadequate for [Kim]'s genius", who was then homeschooled until his college entrance exam.[7]
As of 2007[update], he served as adjunct faculty at Chungbuk National University. On March 14, 2014, he became an associate professor at Shinhan University and vice president of the North Kyeong-gi Development Research Center.
In 2010, Kim criticized the idea that he is a "failed genius". Reflecting upon the label, he stated, "I'm trying to tell people that I am happy the way I am. But why do people have to call my happiness a failure?". Additionally, he added that "Some think people with a high IQ can be omnipotent, but that's not true. Look at me, I don't have musical talent, nor am I excelling in sports. [...] Society should not judge anyone with unilateral standards – everyone has different learning levels, hopes, talents, and dreams and we should respect that".[8][9]
See also
K. Visalini, an Indian prodigy who is purported to have a tested 225 IQ
References
^ abcdefSong, Joo-hyun (January 22, 2014). "IQ210 소년, 교수가 되다…김웅용 신한대학교 교양학부 교수" [Boy with 210 IQ Becomes Professor...Kim Ung-Yong, Professor of Liberal Arts at Shinhan University]. Joongboo Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved January 10, 2018.
^ abYoon, Sa-rang (August 4, 2016). "김웅용 교수 누구? '천재소년' 8세때 NASA 스카우트" [Who is Professor Kim Ung-yong? 'Genius boy' recruited by NASA at age 8]. Korea Sports Economy (in Korean). Retrieved January 10, 2018.
