The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity said on Tuesday they held a send-off ceremony for South Korea's team for the "2026 International Science Olympiad" at the Korea Press Center.

About 200 people attended, including Vice Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈), who also serves as science minister, the 43-member team and officials from the Korea Science Olympiad Committee in nine fields. Bae presented commemorative plaques to all student representatives.

The International Science Olympiad is a competition in which students under 20 who have not entered university compete in mathematics and science knowledge and problem-solving skills. South Korea has competed in nine fields since it first entered the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1988. All 37 team members last year won medals, and in the information field, all representatives received gold medals for the first time since 1992.

The 43-member team this year was selected after 14 months of competition from about 8,000 participants who took part in last year's curriculum.

Seo Ha-jin (서하진), a second-year student at Gyeongsan Science High School, and Oh Ji-yoon (오지윤), a second-year student at Seoul Science High School, took part in the oath ceremony. Kim Hyung-geon (김형건), a third-year student at Seoul Science High School and a representative for the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, is the younger brother of Kim Dong-geon, a student in Seoul National University's Department of Mathematical Sciences who won a gold medal in the same competition in 2024, setting a record for brothers serving as team representatives.

The South Korean team will compete in sequence starting with the International Physics Olympiad, to be held in Bucaramanga, Colombia, from July 4 to 12.

Bae said he expects their perseverance and passion to give people pride and hope, and added he will spare no support so that students with talent and passion for science can fully pursue their dreams of becoming scientists.