114 Seoul Citizens Awardees Selected... Jeon Jeonghwan of Dangok Elementary Wins 'Children's Grand Prize'

51 Children, 51 Boys, 7 Youths, 4 Youth Leaders, and 1 Facility Announced for Seoul Citizen Awards
114 Recipients Honored Online at Seoul City Hall Children's Day Event on the 5th

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] To celebrate May as Youth Month, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has selected and announced 114 awardees, including grand prize winners in the children and youth categories of the '2021 Seoul Citizen Awards.'

On the 5th, Seoul plans to hold a non-face-to-face commemorative event and award ceremony at 10 a.m. in the multipurpose hall on the 8th floor of Seoul City Hall on Children's Day. The ceremony will be broadcast live on YouTube, allowing any interested citizen to watch. The recipients in the 'Children and Youth categories' are exemplary students who have shown deep consideration for others by leading filial piety and volunteer activities, as well as students who have pursued their dreams by self-studying foreign languages.

The grand prize winner in the 'Children's Award' category is Jeon Jeong-hwan, a 5th grader at Dangok Elementary School. Jeon Jeong-hwan has been active as a helper at the Youth After-School Academy in youth facilities, assisting friends attending in-person classes for the first time to adapt well to school life, and taking initiative by organizing trash bins and cleaning toolboxes during breaks. He has also continuously participated in park environment improvement volunteer activities by picking up trash in parks on his way to and from the After-School Academy, contributing to local environmental improvement. Additionally, he has shown a proactive attitude toward self-directed learning, steadily improving his grades and serving as a role model.

The grand prize winner in the 'Youth Award' category is Kim Min-jin, a 3rd-year student at Han Young Foreign Language High School. Kim Min-jin received the 'Outstanding Young Scholar Award in Research Proposal Writing' at a youth research paper competition where university professors and students serve as mentors, for research on the trend of 'Using SNS Marketing in CD Animation Influencer Production.' During the free semester system in middle school, Kim Min-jin founded an animation-related club, exploring careers, attending related events, and analyzing animations from the U.S. and Japan, nurturing a dream of becoming an animator. Furthermore, Kim regularly visited the Baemteo Community Child Center for peer group mentoring in musical instruments and academics, and continued volunteer activities online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grand prize winner in the 'Young Adult Award' category is Kim Ji-hyun from Myongji University. She has served as the head of the university student program planning team at the municipal youth facility, actively participating in program development and volunteer activities for the local community and youth since 2017. She developed and operated 12 programs, including an 'Outdoor Trekking' project for youth with developmental disabilities and an 'Online Mystery Game' festival to promote non-face-to-face leisure culture during the COVID-19 situation. She also demonstrated proactive social participation through activities such as youth fair operations, safety promotion team activities at the Youth Promotion Agency, and policy analysis and proposals for establishing the basic youth policy plan.

Additionally, the grand prize for the 'Youth Leadership Award' goes to Im Seon-jeong of Dongjak Youth Culture House. Since 2002, for about 19 years, Im has dedicated herself to activities supporting the civic growth of youth in Seoul, including programs for vulnerable and welfare-targeted youth, autonomous organizations, participation activities, linked projects, experiential activities, and volunteer work. She has worked on youth leader training and strengthening leadership. By successfully promoting the Youth Training Activity Certification System and public projects, she contributed to creating a safe environment for youth protection, fostering proper growth, and building a happy world for youth.

The Seoul Citizen Awards (Children and Youth categories) are given to individuals and groups with outstanding achievements that serve as exemplary models over the past year, across four grand prize categories: Children’s Award, Youth Award, Young Adult Award, and Youth Leadership Award, spanning 2 to 5 subcategories. This year, applications were accepted from March 2 to 19, with a total of 264 applicants (66 for Children’s Award, 141 for Youth Award, 21 for Young Adult Award, and 36 for Youth Leadership Award), and 114 were finally selected after evaluation.

The award categories include ?Filial Piety and Etiquette ?Volunteer Cooperation ?Hope and Diligence ?Creative Science and Arts ?Global Leadership, totaling five categories. Ko Seok-young, Director of the Seoul Youth Policy Division, said, “Despite many restrictions on activities over the past year due to COVID-19, we applaud our children, youth, and youth leaders who put others first, showed consideration, and nurtured their dreams.” He added, “Seoul will continue to provide generous support so that children and youth can grow up healthy.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.