Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh wins Seoul Peace Prize

Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, who established a bank for the poor in his home country, was named the winner of the eighth Seoul Peace Prize on Wednesday, the foundation that awards the prize said.

"His tireless endeavor to root out poverty and create a new model of giving credit to the poor will bear fruit in terms of greater peace in the world," the Seoul Prize Cultural Foundation said in a press conference at the Seoul Press Center.

The biennial award's prize of US$200,000 honors the peace movements of politicians, academics, civic activists and international organizations.

Dubbed "Banker to the Poor," Yunus, born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, graduated from Chittagong College and got into the business of fighting poverty during a 1974 famine in Bangladesh.

He set up a small bank, Grameen Bank, to help the poor receive credit.

He is the developer and founder of the concept of "microcredit," in which small loans are extended to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans.

The success of Grameen Bank and Yunus' new banking concept have been emulated in 23 countries, the foundation said.

Like his famous quotes, "One day our grandchildren will go to museums to see what poverty was like," his lifelong fight against poverty result in his being awarded many prizes, including the 2006 Mother Teresa Award and 1998 Sydney Peace Prize. He has also been a strong candidate for the Nobel Prize for years.

The Seoul Peace Prize, established in 1990, commemorates the achievement of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, which drew as many as 160 countries as participants, breaking the ideological wall between East and West.

Yunus is the eighth winner of the prize, whose other recipients include U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Czech Republic's former President Vaclav Havel and international relief organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam.

The award ceremony will be held in a Seoul hotel on Oct. 19.

Seoul, Sept. 6 (Yonhap News)