What makes South Korea such an exciting, unique country is the people. Many famous people are related to the country. One of which is the widely known, Pittsburgh Steeler, Hines Ward. Hines Ward was born on March 8, 1976, in Seoul, the capital of South Korea from Kim Young-hee, his mother, and Hines Ward, Sr., his father, who abandoned Hines at the age of two. At present, Hines reside in Georgia with his wife Simone and son Jaden. Hines made the Pittsburgh Steelers as wide receiver in the third round of NFL drafts in 1998, and has continually played for the team, becoming widely known as NFL’s best blocking receiver. He has won many prestigious awards since his high school football career. On April 3, 2006, Ward returned to Seoul for the first time to give “Hope-Sharing” meetings to other multiracial Korean children who are not easily accepted in the Korean society. He shows his Korean pride through the tattoo of his name spelled in Korean, “하인스 워드” on his right arm.

Another famous face known to the world in South Korea is Hwang Woo-Suk, 황우석, a biomedical scientist and professor of theriogenology and biotechnology at Seoul National University, Korea’s leading university. Woo-Suk was born on January 29, 1953, in Buyeo County, South Korea of Chungcheong Province. Hwang and his team of researchers at SNU announced a string of new scientific findings about embryonic stem cells. However, Hwang’s claim to fame was the first ever successful cloning of the dog Snuppy, named at the Seoul National University, where the “miracle” was performed. Soon after his success, Hwang resigned from the team to the disappointment of many scientists across the world due to problems he found in the ethics of cloning.

Empress Myeongseong, 명성황후, or also known as Queen Min, the last reigning empress of Korea was another recognized Korean, in Korean history. She was born on October 19, 1851, and died October 8, 1895, in Seoul. During her reign, she made an effort to keep Korea from foreign influence, mainly Japan. She is most credited for her introduction of Western ideas and technology such as trains, telephones, automobiles, and electric lights. Many Japanese viewed her as an obstacle in their ambitions of seizing control over Korea. In 1895, hired assassins raped and slaughtered three women in the palace suspected of being the queen. When they found her, they raped her and then desecrated her body by displaying her in a small circle, cutting her body into pieces, and burning her. Emperor Gojong, her husband, awarded his wife the title “Myeongseong” and enshrined her as the first empress to be consecrated in Jongmyo, Korea’s state shrine.