Office Workers Transform into Artists... 46th Workers' Cultural Arts Festival Honors Moving Works Through Art

A Total of 5,476 Entries Submitted in Music, Literature, Fine Arts, and Theater
Intense Competition Unfolds
Oh Goeun Wins Presidential Award
Park Sugyo's Poem "Mihwa Clothing Alterations" Receives Prime Minister's Award in Literature

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (Chairman Park Jonggil) held the awards ceremony for the 46th Workers' Cultural Arts Festival on November 8 at the KBS Media Center in Sangam-dong, Seoul.

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (Chairman Park Jonggil, sixth from the left) held the joint awards ceremony for the 46th Workers' Cultural Arts Festival on the 8th at the KBS Media Center in Sangam-dong, Seoul.

The Workers' Cultural Arts Festival is the only comprehensive cultural and arts event in Korea exclusively for workers, open to anyone in the workforce. It is co-hosted by the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and KBS.

Every year, more than 5,000 workers participate, presenting high-quality works and receiving much love and attention.

This year, the festival saw enthusiastic participation, with a total of 5,476 entries submitted across four categories: popular music, literature, fine arts, and theater.

The Workers' Song Festival, a part of this year's event, was held as a "Champions' Showdown" to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service and the 40th anniversary of the song festival, bringing together past winners to compete once again.

Stages featuring participants with diverse life stories, such as one who wished to convey hope through music while battling cancer, and another who wanted to present a wonderful performance to parents who had supported their dream of becoming a singer for many years, deeply moved the audience.

After intense competition, participant Oh Goeun passionately performed "Seoul's Moon" by Kim Gunmo and was named the first Champion of Champions, receiving the festival's highest honor, the Presidential Award.

This year's Prime Minister's Award in the cultural arts festival went to the poem "Mihwa Clothing Alterations" by Park Sugyo. The work was praised for its "free and skillful command of language, solid and fitting depth of thought, outstanding sentence structure and metaphors, and poetic expressions so delicate and intricate that the language is woven together like fine embroidery into a refined and polished piece."

The Grand Prize in the literature category (Minister of Employment and Labor Award) was awarded to the play "Truth - Operation Father Extermination."

The literary works submitted this year were generally praised for their resonant content over form, the diversity of perspectives on life, and their rich literary sensibility.

The Grand Prize in the theater category (Minister of Employment and Labor Award) went to "Ahae - Laugh, Grave." The winning troupe, Ahae, is a club made up of office workers, but their innovative direction, acting skills on par with professional actors, and passionate amateur spirit particularly impressed the judges.

The Grand Prize in the fine arts category (Minister of Employment and Labor Award) was awarded to "Tilted Afternoon" by Lee Junhyeok in the photography section. The work was praised for "sublimating everyday life into art with a keen sense of artistry."

This contest demonstrated that photography is more than a tool for capturing images; it serves as a language of communication that shares workers' lives, thoughts, and various aspects of society. It is regarded as a meaningful achievement that shows the maturity and expansion of workers' photographic culture.

The award-winning works in the literature and fine arts categories will be posted on the Korea Workers' Welfare Net.

At the ceremony, Chairman Park Jonggil of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service said, "This year marks the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service and the first year that 'Industrial Accident Workers' Day' has been designated as a legal commemorative day, making it especially meaningful to hold the Workers' Cultural Arts Festival in such a significant year. The organization will continue to do its best to ensure that workers' lives and culture can grow together through ongoing change and innovation."