Munpia, 'Taekwondo Web Novel Contest' Winners... Grand Prize 'Taekwondojang Oh Sabum'

The web novel serialization platform Munpia announced the winners of the ‘Story Arena: Gold Game, Taekwondo Web Novel Contest (Taekwondo Web Novel Competition)’. The grand prize was awarded to ‘Taekwondojang Oh Sabum’.

Sponsored by the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, this Taekwondo web novel contest was planned to promote Taekwondo, the national martial art, and to secure diversity in sports-themed content. The total prize money amounts to 100 million KRW, and the eligibility criteria included all genres of web novels featuring Taekwondo as the subject (excluding adult content rated 19+).

Munpia selected a total of nine final winning works from the entries that completed up to the 26th episode on the Munpia site from December 20 last year to the 18th of this year. The grand prize winner receives 50 million KRW, two excellence award winners receive 10 million KRW each, and six encouragement award winners receive 5 million KRW each.

The grand prize was awarded to ‘Taekwondojang Oh Sabum’ by author Seochon. The story depicts the protagonist Oh Sabum, who does anything to recruit members, making a sensational debut as a martial arts fighter through an appearance on a mixed martial arts broadcast, spreading the excellence of Taekwondo to the world. The deep understanding of Taekwondo and realistic story development enhance immersion, and the simple and clear narrative while well-developed characters received high praise.

The excellence awards went to ‘Mangnani Jaebeol-i Neomu Gangham!’ by author Almond Bread and ‘Taekwondo Cheonjaeneun Geummedaeli Neomu Swium!’ by author Suldi. ‘Mangnani Jaebeol-i Neomu Gangham!’ was praised for skillfully blending Taekwondo and chaebol (conglomerate) stories into a martial arts novel featuring reincarnation and possession, increasing its popular appeal. ‘Taekwondo Cheonjaeneun Geummedaeli Neomu Swium!’ followed typical fantasy clich?s but interestingly portrayed an overall success story centered on Taekwondo, earning high marks.

Additionally, the encouragement awards were given to works recognized for their quality: ‘Hwangbosega-ui Mangnani Daegongja’ by author ee22, ‘GOD Deunggeup-ui Gongryakjibeul Eodatda’ by author Cheondal, ‘8 Gwae Johap-euro 64 Bae Kanghaejinda!’ by author Dreampanda, ‘Algoboni Taekwondo Cheonjae’ by author Jijijibi, ‘EX Geup Doknipgun-i Neomu Gangham’ by author Deathcom, and ‘Choegang Taekwondeonteo-ga Dorawatda’ by author Copper.

Kim Hwancheol, CEO of Munpia, said, “The Taekwondo web novel contest was a topic rarely found anywhere else, so we had high expectations as well as concerns, but fortunately, many distinctive works in various genres utilizing Taekwondo as a theme were submitted. Going forward, Munpia plans to continuously take on new challenges and fully support diverse creative activities of both established and aspiring authors.”

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