Archive
Photographs and books, honours and records: the materials of Han Man Choon’s life, gathered in one place. Select any item to open its details.
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Portrait of Chun-gang Han Man Choon. The exact date of the photograph has not been confirmed.
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Korea’s first analog computer, built by Han Man Choon in 1961. Its vacuum-tube electronics performed higher calculus in real time, and it served teaching and research in control engineering.
Registered as Cultural Heritage No. 557 in 2013.
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The leftmost rack of the Yonsei 101: dense fields of jacks, with a single meter and a row of switches between them.
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A patch panel fills the lower half of the second rack. On an analog computer, the patch panel is where cords are plugged in to connect the computing elements to one another.
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The third rack: round meters, adjustment knobs and red terminals, tier upon tier.
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The rightmost rack: an instrument panel with square and round meters stacked above one another.
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The round meter at the centre of Rack III. On an analog computer, the voltage the needle points to is the result of the calculation.
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AC Circuits1960Han Man Choon
The first electrical engineering textbook Han Man Choon translated and published — the start of a run of Korean-language texts.
When university lectures still relied on Japanese and American textbooks, Han Man Choon published one Korean-language electrical engineering text after another for the students who followed him.
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Distribution Engineering1963Han Man Choon
A textbook on distribution — delivering power from the grid to homes and factories.
When university lectures still relied on Japanese and American textbooks, Han Man Choon published one Korean-language electrical engineering text after another for the students who followed him.
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Power Generation Engineering1964Han Man Choon
A textbook on power stations and generating equipment.
When university lectures still relied on Japanese and American textbooks, Han Man Choon published one Korean-language electrical engineering text after another for the students who followed him.
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Power Transmission Engineering—Han Man Choon
A textbook on transmission — carrying power from stations to substations.
When university lectures still relied on Japanese and American textbooks, Han Man Choon published one Korean-language electrical engineering text after another for the students who followed him.
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Automatic Control Theory—Han Man Choon
A textbook on control theory, from the engineer who brought control-engineering ideas into power systems.
When university lectures still relied on Japanese and American textbooks, Han Man Choon published one Korean-language electrical engineering text after another for the students who followed him.
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Exercises in Electrical Theory1973Han Man Choon
A workbook for mastering the fundamentals of electrical theory through exercises.
When university lectures still relied on Japanese and American textbooks, Han Man Choon published one Korean-language electrical engineering text after another for the students who followed him.
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Introduction to Computer Science1981Han Man Choon
An introduction to computer science. The builder of an analog computer also left a textbook for the digital age.
When university lectures still relied on Japanese and American textbooks, Han Man Choon published one Korean-language electrical engineering text after another for the students who followed him.
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Automatic Control Systems1981Han Man Choon
A textbook on the analysis and design of control systems.
When university lectures still relied on Japanese and American textbooks, Han Man Choon published one Korean-language electrical engineering text after another for the students who followed him.
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1972Order of Industrial Service Merit
A state order awarded for contributions to the development of industry.
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1977Seoul Culture Award
An award given by the Seoul Metropolitan Government for distinguished contributions to culture and scholarship.
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1981Order of Civil Merit
The Order of Civil Merit honours distinguished service to the nation’s development. He received the Dongbaek Medal, the third of its five grades.
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2015Science in Korea stamp
The first set of Korea Post’s ‘Science in Korea’ series, issued on 10 April 2015. He appeared among the scientists who brought honour to Korea, alongside theoretical physicist Lee Whi-so and lepidopterist Seok Joo-myung.
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2017S&T Merit honoree
Named among the first Science & Technology Merit honorees of the Republic of Korea in 2017, in recognition of his theoretical case for raising distribution voltage and his design and construction of the Yonsei 101.
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1943Keijō Imperial University
Graduated with the first class of the electrical engineering department at Keijō Imperial University and went straight to the Joseon Electric Power Company as chief of planning, then of power generation.
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1961Ph.D., Nottingham
As Korea’s first government-funded student in a nuclear-related field, he studied at the University of Nottingham and earned his doctorate in reactor control — Korea’s first Ph.D. in electrical engineering.
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2013National heritage
On 27 August 2013, the Yonsei 101 analog computer was registered as Cultural Heritage No. 557.
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2017Donated to Yonsei
According to the Korea Heritage Service record, ownership of the Yonsei 101 passed by donation from a private individual to Yonsei University in 2017.
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202440th memorial
A memorial marking forty years since his death was held on 9 September 2024 at Yonsei University’s Engineering Hall II, attended by about fifty people including his family and representatives of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and Yonsei University.
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2025Liberation Day
On Liberation Day 2025, the 80th anniversary, his eldest son, Professor Emeritus Han Min-koo of Seoul National University, threw the ceremonial first pitch at Gocheok Sky Dome as a descendant of independence patriot Han Ki-ak.