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Kim Ung-yong is a South Korean child prodigy whose IQ of 210 was reported in the Guinness Book of World Records under the "Highest IQ" category. The score was reported from a Stanford-Binet administration in his early childhood. He could reportedly speak four languages by age 3 and solve calculus problems on Japanese television at 4.

NASA invited him to the United States as a child where he worked from age 8 until 17, including taking a PhD. He famously returned to South Korea in his late teens, citing isolation and a desire for a more typical life. He completed a civil engineering doctorate at Chungbuk National University and worked in academia and infrastructure development.

Kim has been publicly reflective about the cost of his early life trajectory. In interviews he has said he does not regret returning to civil engineering even after working at NASA; the value of an unmeasured-life choice has been a recurring theme in profiles about him.