The British Embassy awarded 24 Korean government officials and a North Korean defector in Seoul on Wednesday with scholarships for postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom.

This year’s scholarship awarded officials from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare among others.

British Ambassador Scott Wightman also gave a special notice to Hong Sung-il (alias), a North Korean defector who was awarded with the scholarship.

Hong plans to study cultural psychology in the U.K. to help reduce the shock that he believes North Koreans will experience in the event of unification.

Hong had been a part of the embassy, learning English through the British Council’s “English for the Future Program” since May 2011, and also interned at there for three months.

The prestigious scholarship which began in 1983 offers talented graduates and young professionals the chance to study for postgraduate degrees at universities in the United Kingdom.

The Chevening program is a worldwide scholarship that covers a year of post graduate studies in the U.K.

The scholarships have brought more than 38,000 scholars to study in the U.K., including around 1,100 from South Korea. Leading Chevening alumni here include director general of Korea’s National Forensic Service Chung Hee-sun, Chief Presidential Secretary Yim Tae-hee and president of the National Information Society Agency Kim Sung-tae.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)