Global Content Contest Showcasing Seoul's Charm... 854 Entries from 42 Countries Participate

'Seoul's Charm Global Content Contest' Selects 40 Entries
Grand Prize Awarded to Philippine Team ‘Seoul for Soul’

The Philippine team 'ThOKI' that won the grand prize, 'SEOUL for soul'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 4th that 854 entries were received from 42 countries including the Philippines, Russia, India, and Taiwan for the 'Seoul Charm Global Content Contest,' held to discover and promote Seoul's diverse aspects such as history, culture, tourism, and IT technology to the world.

Seoul selected 40 winning works under the theme of 'Seoul You Want to Visit Again.' The contest was held in two categories: video and image content. Seoul determined the final winners by combining scores from preliminary screening, online citizen voting (20%), and expert judging in the video and photography fields (80%).

The grand prize was awarded to the Philippine team 'ThOKI' for their work 'Seoul for soul.' The video captures a Filipino couple traveling through Seoul’s beautiful and enchanting landmarks such as DDP, Namsan, Seoul Station, the Han River, and Hanyangdoseong, growing their love along the way.

The 'ThOKI' team introduced Seoul as "The city that will surpass your expectations." The grand prize winner receives the Seoul Mayor’s Award and a prize of 10 million KRW.

In addition to the grand prize Philippine team, gold (1 per category), silver (2 per category), bronze (3 per category), and honorable mentions (10 per category) were selected in both video and image categories. A special children’s award (7 works) was also given exclusively to works created and submitted by children, regardless of category.

The gold prize in the video category went to 'To Seoul,' themed on 'Seoul' created by various spaces and people coming together. The silver prizes in the video category were awarded to 'Bangrang Seoul,' expressing inspiration received by three artists in Seoul, and 'What is your Seoul,' depicting a Seoul where passion and leisure, past and present coexist.

The gold prize in the image category was awarded to 'Seoul Sansuhwa,' which captures the winter scenery of snowy Seoul blending traditional landscape painting with modern urban views. The silver prizes in the image category went to 'The Time When the Fairy Tale Begins,' portraying the beautiful nightscape of Naksan Park like a fairy tale, and 'Snowy Hanok Village,' depicting winter in Eunpyeong Hanok Village. In the children’s category, seven works including 'Namdaemun' and 'Seoul in My Heart' were selected.

Seoul made the winning works available to the global audience through Seoul’s official YouTube channel and foreign language websites. An online awards ceremony will be held in July to introduce the winners’ impressions.

Professor Kim Min-ki, who served as a judge, commented, "This contest received a large number of 854 entries worldwide, with many high-quality works, so video and photography experts carefully deliberated for a long time to select the winners. The grand prize winner 'Seoul for soul' depicts how love deepens while traveling through Seoul’s beautiful and enchanting landmarks. The lovely and warm appearance of the couple and K-POP dance evoke memories of Seoul and the desire to travel to Seoul."

Han Young-hee, Seoul City’s Citizen Communication Planning Officer, said, "This contest, held to prepare for the post-COVID era and to discover Seoul’s diverse charms in history, culture, tourism, safety, and IT, attracted entries not only from Seoul citizens but also from 42 countries worldwide. It was a meaningful contest that uncovered various charms of Seoul that people want to visit again. The winning works will be shared online to promote Seoul’s diverse charms globally."

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