Kim Ung-yong IQ

He is credited with about 210, listed by Guinness and quoted in Korean press, and Wikipedia describes a Stanford-Binet result above 210. We found no published test report. It is a childhood ratio-style figure, and Guinness retired the category in 1990.

Not as the press told it. His father later called the NASA story journalistic nonsense. His mother said he audited classes at the University of Colorado for a short time and returned to Korea because the facilities were inadequate.

He earned a PhD in civil engineering at Chungbuk National University and taught there as an adjunct in 2007. In 2014 he became an associate professor at Shinhan University. He has said he is happy with his life and does not accept the label of a failed genius.

Little is documented about how Kim solved problems as a child. What he has said publicly is about the cost of being labelled early. He recalls being lonely as a child and prefers a settled working life to public attention.

What supports it

• Guinness listed him with an IQ of about 210, and Wikipedia describes a Stanford-Binet result above 210.
• He appeared on Fuji Television in Japan at age five.
• He later earned a PhD in civil engineering in Korea and taught at university level.

What it cannot prove

• No test report, examiner or date is public for the 210.
• His father called the NASA story "journalistic nonsense", which shows how much of the early coverage was exaggerated.
• Guinness retired the highest IQ category in 1990 as too unreliable, and Kim is a living person.

Kim Ung-yong's IQ is represented here by a retrospective estimate of 210, not a verified test result. Kim Ung-yong is best known for exceptional early calculation. The useful question is what the surviving evidence shows, not whether a precise modern score can be recovered.

A child prodigy who later chose an ordinary academic career. He has said he is content with that path and rejects the label of failed genius.

The dominant archetype here is The Problem Solver. This archetype shapes decision patterns: what feels natural, what creates friction, and what blind spots tend to emerge.

Estimated IQ is 210. This is a rough estimate based on documented accomplishments and contemporary accounts, not a literal measurement.

He was born in Seoul on 8 March 1962 and was on Japanese television before he started school.