SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY (SKKU), SEOUL, KOREA

SKKU held the 11^th Sungkyun Writing Contest at the Beijing Yulong International Hotel's Grand Ballroom on April 28^th. At this year's Sungkyun Writing Contest, 61 students from 52 universities in China were selected to write after going through the preliminary round. Students competed with their Korean writing skills by writing an essay on the topic "Neighbor".

Prof. Myunghak LEE (the chairman of the contest) said, "The Sungkyun Writing Contest has helped build interest in Korean culture in China. I hope it will become a good opportunity to understand our two cultures through writing." Prior to the main event, they distributed books that compiled the prize-winning works of the previous participants.

The gold prize winner of the contest was Euiroe HA (4^th year) from Beijing Foreign Studies University. She said, "I'm puzzled. I didn't expect to win this award. I want to go to Korea to study and encourage exchange between the two countries." The silver prize and bronze prize went to Yecho YOOK and Dongyang Joo, respectively.

The Sungkyun Writing Contest has been held in different regions such as China, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia for 10 years. The purpose of the contest is not only to spread knowledge of the Korean writing system "Hangul", but also to communicate the unique values of Korea. It is also famous for having a special prize. The winners of the gold and silver prize are exempted from tuition for 2 years when they study at an SKKU graduate school. Also, SKKU gives out the latest Samsung mobile phones, laptops, and tablets to the winners.