2020 KSI Korean Speech and Writing Contest successfully completed

Zahra Alsafi (KSI Manama) awarded grand prize in speech contest; Anubhuti Kakati (Korean Cultural Center in India) received grand prize in writing contest
Kim Jung Sook, Korean First Lady, attended event in person··· gave congratulatory message to finalists

Zahra Alsafi (KSI Manama in Bahrain) was awarded the grand prize in the <KSI Korean Speech Contest> while Anubhuti Kakati (Korean Cultural Center in India) received the grand prize in the <KSI Korean Writing Contest>.

The King Sejong Institute Foundation (KSIF, president: Kang Hyounhwa) held the non-contact final of the <KSI Korean Speech Contest> and the awards ceremony for the <KSI Korean Writing Contest> at the National Hangeul Museum in Yongsan on October 8th, 2020.

In this event, ten finalists gave presentations on the theme of ‘the Koreans I met and I will meet’. Of the finalists, Zahra Alsafi particularly demonstrated adept Korean capability, saying “I myself am a Korean learning Korean and adapting to Korean habits and ways of thinking”, and received the grand prize.

The final result of the <KSI Korean Writing Contest>, held on September 25th, was announced in this ceremony. Anubhuti Kakati from the Korean Cultural Center India KSI earned the honor of the grand prize. In this writing contest with the theme of ‘Meeting Korea Online’, Kakati achieved good reviews for her genuine story writing. Although she has never visited Korea, she is making efforts to realize her dream of being a Korean teacher by listening to Korean songs online and taking Korean lecture programs.

Mrs. Kim Jung Sook, Korean First Lady, visited the <King Sejong Institute Korean Speech Contest> and congratulated those at the event. In her congratulatory message, Mrs. Kim Jung Sook said, “With the rapid spread of the Korean Wave, the world’s interest in Korean is greater than ever. I hope that those of you learning Korean will help connect your countries with Korea to form global bridges.”

The <KSI Korean Speech/Writing Contest> is one of the KSIF’s flagship scholarship programs. KSIs all around the world hold preliminaries from April to July every year. This year's speech contest was held at 90 KSIs in 46 countries, and 1,918 people participated. The writing contest was held at 53 KSIs in 33 countries, and the number of participants was 1,031. The winners of each KSI’s speech and writing contest are invited to “KSI's Invitational Training for Outstanding Learners” organized by the KSIF in October. However, this year, the training will be canceled due to COVID-19. The winners of each institute will be provided with an electronic learning device as an additional prize.

The winners of each KSI underwent final evaluation in August by the KSIF, and advanced to the final. In the final contests, the KSIF selected a total of 16 finalists―10 for the speech contest and 6 for the writing contest. All 16 winners at the competition will receive benefits of Korean scholarship training at domestic universities in 2021.

<List of Korean Speech Contest Winners>

<List of Korean Writing Contest Winners>