Korea Wins Gold at International Young Physicists' Tournament for First Time in 8 Years

Korean Team Proves Physics Debate and Research Prowess on the Global Stage

Korean high school students have won a gold medal at the International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT), the world’s most prestigious youth physics debate competition, for the first time in eight years. Competing by presenting and discussing unresolved physics problems, they were recognized for their world-class research capabilities.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity announced on July 14 that the Korean delegation won a gold medal at the 39th International Young Physicists' Tournament held in Zurich, Switzerland. This is Korea’s first gold medal at the IYPT since 2018, marking an achievement after eight years.

Commemorative photo of the Korean delegation. From the left: Jisoo Byun, Delegation Leader (Kyungpook National University); Wonbae Cho, Deputy Leader (Korea Maritime and Ocean University); Seunghyun Kim (NLCS Jeju); Jaehyun Won (Minjok Leadership Academy); Hanseo Kim (Gyeonggi Science High School); Siwoo Choi (Gyeonggi Science High School); Dongha Kim (Minjok Leadership Academy) students; Jaesung Ahn, Deputy Leader (Pukyong National University). Provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The International Young Physicists' Tournament is a global physics debate competition in which five-member teams from each country participate. The teams present, oppose, and review research findings through discussions. One year before the competition, research problems are released, and participating students must conduct their own experiments and analyses before debating with opposing teams. Unlike the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), which ranks students based on individual test scores, this tournament centers on debate over open-ended research problems, where there are no predetermined answers.

Second Place in the Preliminary Round, Advanced to Finals... Demonstrated World-Class Research Capability

This year's tournament drew 175 students from 35 countries. The Korean team consisted of five members: Dongha Kim (Minjok Leadership Academy, 12th grade, team captain), Seunghyun Kim (NLCS Jeju, 12th grade), Hanseo Kim (Gyeonggi Science High School, 12th grade), Jaehyun Won (Minjok Leadership Academy, 12th grade), and Siwoo Choi (Gyeonggi Science High School, 12th grade).

In the preliminaries, the team competed against New Zealand, Austria, Greece, and Taiwan, scoring a total of 207.6 points, placing second overall behind Singapore (225.4 points). They advanced to the final round and ultimately won the gold medal.

The presentation topics included studies on changes in the axis of rotation of tossing objects in the air (tennis racket theorem), the phenomenon of a coin fluttering like a leaf as it falls through a liquid, and the transmission of movement using only magnets in a magnetic Newton's cradle—research exploring everyday physical phenomena.

Jisoo Byun, head of the Korean Young Physicists’ Tournament Committee, said, “The students completed the entire process of formulating questions and finding their own answers. The experience was particularly meaningful as they learned the importance of deeply exploring problems without definite answers and developing an attitude of scientific inquiry.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.