Woo Jang-choon

Woo Jang-choon, U Nagaharu in Japanese, (April 8, 1898 – August 10, 1959) was an agricultural scientist and botanist active in Korea under Japanese rule and later in South Korea, famous for his discoveries in the genetics and breeding of plants.

Woo was born and raised in Japan, overcoming poverty and discrimination in Imperial Japan to become a prominent researcher and teacher. When Japanese rule over Korea ended in 1945 Woo left his mother, his wife and his children in Japan and settled in what would become South Korea to lead the country's efforts in botany and agriculture. There is a memorial museum in the port city of Busan where he lived and worked in Korea, honoring his life and accomplishments.

Woo is credited in scientific literature as Nagaharu U, a Japanese reading of the Chinese characters of his Korean name (the pronunciation of his family name 禹 can be Romanized as U in both Japanese (う) and Korean (우)).