Professor Yoo Yang-seok, Honorary Professor at Kookmin University, received the Korean Tea Society Academic Award at the regular general meeting and spring academic conference of the Korean Tea Society held on May 2 in Hadong, Gyeongnam. The Korean Tea Society Academic Award is presented every two years by the Korean Tea Society, a non-profit organization, to researchers who have made outstanding academic achievements in the field of tea.

Professor Yoo Yang-seok has published over 40 papers on tea culture, tea industry, and tea-related content, including “The Social Significance of Tea Culture in the 4th Industrial Revolution Era,” “A Study on the Effectiveness of Tea Etiquette Classes for Elementary Students Using the KEDI Character Assessment,” “A Survey on Changes in Tea Lifestyle and Consumption Patterns Due to COVID-19,” and “A Study on Tea Culture and Tea Industry in Korea Based on the ' The Book of Korean Tea,” the first English-language tea book in Korea, in 2007. In 2021, he published a Korean-English guidebook on Korean tea and tea houses.

Professor Yoo Yang-seok has been recognized for his contributions to the development of education in Korea, receiving the Minister of Education Award (2025). He has also been honored for his contributions to tea-related academic research and industrial development, including the Korean Tea Society's Humanities and Social Sciences Excellence Paper Award (2020), the Korean Content Society's International Academic Conference BEST PAPER AWARD (2020), the Myungwon Cultural Foundation's Tea Culture Academic Award (2016), the Boseong County Meritorious Service Award (2014), and the Hadong Regional Development Merit Award (2006).

Founded in 1994, the Korean Tea Society aims to contribute to the development of tea culture and natural science through academic research related to tea.