Gyeongbuk Province Tourism Souvenir Contest Awards Grand Prize to 'Gyeongbuk 3D Magnet'

25 Award-Winning Works Selected ... Grand Prize 5 Million KRW and Total Prize Money 22.4 Million KRW

Grand Prize winner Jeon Il-seop's '3D Magnet' at the 25th Gyeongbuk Tourism Souvenir Contest.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Gyeongbuk Province held the 25th Tourism Souvenir Contest to discover excellent tourism souvenirs representing the region and announced the selection of 25 award-winning works.

The Tourism Souvenir Contest, now in its 25th year, received a total of 91 entries from the general public over five days from the 12th to the 16th of last month.

The province selected a total of 25 winning works through a judging panel composed of six experts from various fields (Chairman: Professor Won-gap Lee of Keimyung Culture University), awarding 1 Grand Prize, 1 Gold Prize, 2 Silver Prizes, 3 Bronze Prizes, and 5 Encouragement Prizes.

The selected works will be awarded prize money of 5 million KRW for the Grand Prize, 3 million KRW for the Gold Prize, 2 million KRW each for the Silver Prizes, 1 million KRW each for the Bronze Prizes, 700,000 KRW each for the Encouragement Prizes, and 300,000 KRW each for the Honorable Mentions.

During the judging process, preference voting was conducted from the 20th to the 23rd of last month over four days targeting tourists visiting the Hwangridan-gil Living Culture Center, and the results were reflected in the final evaluation.

This approach added marketability and practicality by incorporating the consumer’s perspective into the judging.

The prestigious Grand Prize was awarded to Jeon Il-seop from Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province (Soo & Soo Design) for his ‘Three-dimensional Magnet,’ which expresses six symbolic icons representing Gyeongbuk using a three-dimensional technique in magnet form.

The work clearly and beautifully highlights the unique characteristics of each region, such as Andong Wolyeonggyo Bridge and Pohang Homigot, receiving high praise not only from the judges but also from the general public voters.

The Gold Prize went to Song Young-cheol from Pohang (Oeul Pottery Research Institute) for ‘Embracing Silla,’ a mug cup shaped like Silla relics that expresses the history of the thousand-year-old Silla Kingdom.

The Silver Prizes were awarded to Lee Jae-ho from Daejeon (individual) for ‘Capturing the Scent of Gyeongbuk’ and Kim Ji-hoon from Gyeongju (individual) for ‘Millennium Culture.’

The Bronze Prizes were given to Shin Sun-mi from Seoul (individual) for ‘Dried Persimmon Whirl Apple Cookie,’ Lee Yoon-jung from Gumi (Gumi Ceramic) for ‘Scenery of Gumi,’ and Park Hae-gon from Yeongju (Muksan Workshop) for ‘Silla General’s Protective Accessory Holder.’

Gyeongbuk Province plans to exhibit the excellent works selected in the contest at domestic and international fairs and post them on the Gyeongbuk Tourism Portal ‘Gyeongbuk Nadri’ website as part of multifaceted promotional marketing efforts.

Additionally, support will be provided through the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s excellent tourism souvenir development and distribution fund loans, production of award-winning collections, exhibitions at the Gyeongbuk Tourism Promotion Center, and distribution and promotional marketing to enhance recognition and boost sales of the winning works.

The awards ceremony will be held on June 21, and the winning works will be exhibited at the Gyeongsangbuk-do Tourism Promotion Center in the Bomun Complex, Gyeongju, from June 22 to 27.

Kim Sang-cheol, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau of the province, said, “Many excellent representative tourism souvenirs that can promote Gyeongbuk were submitted to this contest. We will make various efforts to commercialize the selected works from this contest so that they can become representative tourism marketing products of the region.”

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