HyungPyo Jeon (전형표) was born in one of the most beautiful mountainous regions in South Korea, Jeongseon county of Kangwon Province. He grew up in Namyangju county of Gyeonggi Province, a part of the eastern suburbs of Seoul that is the capital of South Korea.
Ever since a child, he has not lost his dream to be an Ichthyologist. He read books about the freshwater fishes of Korea written by Dr. Choi, a father of South Korea's Biology, and walked to the Wangsook River near his home for an hour almost everyday to observe the ecology of freshwater fish living there. He also was lucky to see many endangered freshwater fish species in where he was born(also his father's hometown), since many of those species are found only in the mountainous areas in Kangwon Province. When a middle school student at the age fourteen in early 1999, he sent a letter by himself to Dr. Choi(1910~2002), and asked recommendations and advices to be an Ichthyologist. Dr. Choi was moved by a young boy HyungPyo's passion and invited him to the Student's Society of Ichthyology and Entomology that was created by Dr. Choi in late 1999. Through the society's monthly meeting, he met me(DaeMin Kim) and became one of my best friends.
We went fishing and discussed the Ichthyological issues of South Korea numerous times. Also, many parts of my book, the Freshwater Fish Yeolha Diary(DaeMin Kim, 2004.), were supported by HyungPyo Jeon. When HyungPyo was a student of the Toegyewon High School, he was awarded a silver prize from the Gyeonggi Province's Exhibition of Scientific Research for high school students, with his research on behavioral relationship between Liobagrus andersoni(Amplycipitidae) and its main diet, mayfly larva. 
He finished the army duty as a man of the South Korea, while serving as a soldier in the Joint Security Area(JSA) for two years which is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone(DMZ). After the serving, he returned to the Hallym University at Chuncheon and now studyng biology. Since 2008, he has been a core participant of The Group of Korean Fish Proteur* which was created by HyungBae Jeon(not Hyung"Pyo" Jeon!). Also, he currently has a part-time job in The National Fisheries Research and Development Institute of South Korea.
* The group("어살이" in Korean name. can be pronounced like "Asari") currently uses its English name as "The Korean Fish Proteur Group". It is likely to be changed in the near future. The official web site is: http://cafe.daum.net/Fish-and-nature
Hyungpyo Jeon donated to me many pictures of Korean freshwater fish he has taken.
Of those, I use the picture of : Rhodeus pseudosericeus, Rhodeus uyekii , Acheilognathus lanceolatus , Acheilognathus signifer, Acheilognathus koreensis, Acheiognathus yamatsutae, Acanthorhodeus macropterus, Pseudorasbora parva, Pseudopungtungia nigra, Sarcocheilichthys nigripinnis morii , Hemibarbus longirostris, Abbottina springeri , Aphyocypris chinensis, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Koreocobitis rotundicaudata, Trachidermus fasciatus, Channa argus.
Several samples of his pictures are shown as the followings:
* Acheilognathus lanceolatus (above)
* Acheilognathus yamatsutae (above)
* Abbottina springeri (above)
* Aphyocypris chinensis(above)
copyright © 2009 by Dae-Min Kim