The Ho-Am Prize was established in 1990 by Kun-Hee Lee, the Chairman of Samsung, with a vision to create a new corporate culture that continues the noble spirit of public service espoused by the late Chairman Byung-chull Lee, founder of Samsung. Awarded since 1991, it is funded by Samsung and named after their former chairman, Lee Byung-chul (Ho-Am is his pen name which means filling up a space with clear water as lakes do, and being unshakeable as a large rock). The Ho-Am Prize is currently awarded in five fields: Science, Engineering, Medicine, Arts and Community Service. The Ho-Am Prize in the Arts was established in 1994.

Prizewinners of Ho-Am Prize in the Arts

• 1994: Won-Yong Kim • 1995: Nam June Paik • 1996: Kyung-Ree Park • 1997: Myung-Whun Chung • 1998: Myung Hee Choi • 1999: Munyol Yi • 2000: Kun-Woo Paik • 2001: Lee Ufan • 2002: Sue Jin Kang • 2003: Im Kwon Taek • 2004: Byung-Ki Hwang • 2005: Oh Tae-Sok • 2006: Wan-Suh Park • 2007: Yi Chong-jun • 2008: Kyu Sung Woo • 2009: Shin Kyeong-nim • 2010: Min-Ho Chang • 2011: Kyung-Wha Chung • 2012: Unsuk Chin • 2013: Shin Kyung-sook • 2014: Hei-Kyung Hong • 2015: Kimsooja • 2016: Tong-gyu Hwang • 2017: Do-ho Suh • 2018: Kwangchul Youn • 2019: Lee Bul • 2020: Min-gi Kim • 2021: Bong Joon-ho • 2022: Kim Hyesoon • 2023: Seong-Jin Cho • 2024: Han Kang