Nine Misconceptions about the Noble Peace Prize

People have quite a few misconceptions about the Nobel Peace Prize.

Recently, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Geir Lundestad corrected nine misconceptions surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize:

1. The list of Nobel Peace Prize nominees can be disclosed beforehand: The names of nominees are kept secret until the winners are announced. The so-called “nominee list” is a mere guesswork of the media.

2. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates can be decided through lobbying: It is nonsense to think that a nominee can be selected as a winner by lobbying the committee. Rather, lobbying can bring negative effects.

3. The Nobel Peace Prize nominees can be added at the last moment: It is impossible to include a nominee at the last minute. The deadline of nomination is 8 months before the Laureates are announced, and the nomination letter should be postmarked before February 1 of the same year.

4. Anyone can be a Nobel Peace Prize nominator: Nomination can be made only by persons competent to submit proposals such as persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, board members of organizations who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, members of national assemblies and governments of state, university rectors, professors of law, theology, social sciences, history and philosophy, directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes, former advisers appointed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute, and members of international courts.

5. The Nobel Peace Prize can be withdrawn: It is truly a misunderstanding that the

Prize can be taken back from the Laureates. The Statute of the Nobel Foundation stipulates no such principles.

6. The Nobel Peace Prize can be awarded posthumously: Former Secretary General of the U.N. Dag Hammarskjöld, who received the Prize in 1961 after he lost his life in a plane crash, was the only posthumous Nobel Peace Prize winner ever. Since 1974, the Statute of the Nobel Foundation stipulates that a Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously.

7. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have to present tangible results to prove their efforts: The Nobel Peace Prize focuses more on encouraging the contributors at the right time. Thus, the Prize is awarded if a person’s efforts for peace are recognized by the committee despite possible failures of his or her work in the future.

8. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are selected by the Norwegian government: The Storting (the Norwegian parliament) designates five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, but the committee is independent of the government in deciding the Laureates.

9. The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony is held in Sweden: The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony takes place in Oslo, Norway. The prize award ceremonies for the other five Nobel Prizes are held in Stockholm, Sweden.

7. Roh’s Indication of Public Confidence, Foreign Journals’ Responses

Major foreign journals such as the AP, AFP, Reuter, and Kyodo News Agency promptly reported President Roh Moo-hyun’s indication of a “public confidence assessment” yesterday, watching in particular the background of such a statement.

The AFP pointed out that President Roh is being condemned for failing to control the militant labor struggle and failing in getting Korea out of the economic recession. Even his supporters are opposing his opinion about the North’s nuclear crisis. AFP said approval ratings on the incumbent president, which skyrocketed to 80 percent right after his victory in the presidential election, has since plunged to a figure of slightly over 20 percent in the seven months of his term in office.

“A former human rights lawyer, President Roh had even surprised the Korean people when he said ‘I can’t do the job of president,’ marking his 100th day after taking office,” added AFP.

“His reform-minded image has become spotted by corruption scandals involved with his close aides,” Reuters pointed, saying President Roh doesn’t have any particular experience in public posts except that he worked for a while as a Maritime Affairs-Fisheries Minister.

President Roh is facing difficult problems awaiting solution, meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush, and concluding the Korean troops dispatch issues at the APEC summit meeting scheduled for this month in Bangkok, Thailand, Reuters added.

AP news network said some close aides of Roh have been suspected of taking bribes from businessmen, and the opposition party has been criticizing Roh severely on adopting a soft policy toward North, and spreading anti-US sentiment.