Canadian Foreigner Awarded with the Grand Prize

KSIF Held the ‘Korean Culture Experience Contest for Foreigners’

14 Pieces Were Chosen Including Military and the Drama <Descendants of the Sun >

April 29, King Sejong Institute Foundation (KSIF) held ‘Korean Culture Experience Contest for Foreigners and Naturalized Korean Citizens in Korea. It was held in the Main Conference Room of the Digital Library in the National Library of Korea, located in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

14 Stories that Overcame Fierce Competition will be Recreated by Webtoon Artists Including the Creator of ‘Pandadog’, a Famous Cartoon of Naver

The contest, held from March 10 to April 10, generated many excellent stories related to Korea from foreigners living in Korea. A total of 14 were chosen out of 249 stories (a selection rate of 17:1). The prizes consist of Grand Prize (1, prize money of 700,000 won), Best Prize (1, prize money of 500,000 won), Good Prize (2, prize money of 300,000 won), and Participation Prize (10, prize money of 200,000 won).

The winning stories will be recreated into webtoons by 10 cartoonists including the creator of the webtoon Pandadog Yang Ju-Il, who publishes his work periodically on Naver (www.naver.com). The webtoons will be unveiled on Nuri-Sejong Hakdang (www.sejonghakdang.org), a website for learning Korean language and culture.

Special Stories Discussed Korean Culture as Experienced by Foreigners Including Korean Mom, Culture in the Military & <Descendants of the Sun>, and Culture of Community Within the Korean Language

The Grand Prize winner was Marie Kassandra Sweeney (21, Female), from Canada, whose boyfriend is Korean. She frankly talked about what Korean mothers-in-law are like in reality in Korea in contrast to how Korean mothers-in-law are depicted in Korean soap operas. Marie, a lover of Korean dramas, said, “I often watch Korean soap operas and I thought every mother-in-law in Korea would be as scary and fierce as tigers. But in fact, real-life mother-in-laws in Korea are affectionate and warm-hearted.”

There was also a story by a Chinese man who experienced the difference between reality and life portrayed in television dramas, after watching his Korean friend entering into the military and being discharged. He mused about the culture in the military after watching <Descendants of the Sun>, a famous TV drama of Korea. Other stories were about an Israeli who mistakenly thought that polygamy was permitted in Korean society after hearing the phrase ‘our husband’ in Korean, and a Vietnamese who was amazed by the food delivery system in Korea after ordering in broken Korean and quickly receiving food in the middle of the Han River park.

For more details, please visit Nuri-Sejong Hakdang and check ‘News > Notification’.

The Largest Proportion of the Stories Was about the ‘Drinking Culture of Korea’.
Followed by the ‘Warm-heartedness of Koreans’ and ‘Korean Language’

Among the stories, the topic of the ‘drinking culture of Korea’ made up the largest portion (13.2%). Foreigners were amazed and astonished by Koreans who consume large quantities of alcoholic beverages at various venues in the course of an evening. Other popular topics included : △ warm-heartedness of Koreans(12.8%), △ Korean language(9.2%), △’Pali-Pali’ culture(4%), △ food delivery(3.6%), and △ Ajummas (2.8%).

The foundation expects that the contest will provide an opportunity for foreigners talk about and discuss the distinctive characteristics of Korean culture from their unique perspective, and these perspectives will be portrayed in a humorous manner in webtoons after being deliberated upon by both Koreans and foreigners. The webtoons, which will be completed by the end of this year, will play a big role in helping foreigners learn about Korean language and culture.

Sejong Institute Foundation (KSIF) has been displaying webtoons through the Nuri-Sejong Hakdang since 2014, with the aim of helping foreigners become better informed about Korean culture and helping them learn the Korean language. The topics in 2014 and 2015 were ‘Korea’s traditional fairy tales’ and ‘Yummy Korean Food.’