'I Hope This Becomes a Cherished Memory': Gangseo District Mayor Cheers Young Winners at Book-Illustration Contest

Gangseo-gu District Mayor Jin Kyo-hoon attended the award ceremony for the inaugural Gangseo Post-Reading Illustration Contest at the district office's main conference room on Monday, delivering words of encouragement to the young participants.

"Organizing your thoughts and conveying them to others is very important, but expressing them through drawing is an even harder task," Jin said. "Our children seem to have a remarkable ability to read a book, gather their thoughts, and bring them to life."

He added that he hoped Monday's ceremony would remain a cherished memory for everyone present for years to come. "I hope this contest gives our children greater confidence in expressing their ideas and serves as a stepping stone for their growth," he said.

About 50 people attended the ceremony, including Jin, Kim Sang-jun, head of Kyobo Book Centre's Gangnam business division, and the award-winning children and their families.

Awards were presented across three divisions — preschool, lower elementary and upper elementary — with each division recognizing one grand prize winner, three excellence award winners and four encouragement award winners, for a total of 24 honorees.

Han Ria of Haeri Kindergarten took the grand prize in the preschool division, Jo Yun-a of Gongjin Elementary School (second grade) won in the lower elementary division, and Jeon Chae-wan of Gongjin Elementary School (sixth grade) claimed top honors in the upper elementary division. The winning works will be displayed at Kyobo Book Centre's One Grove branch.

Gangseo-gu organized the contest together with Kyobo Book Centre's One Grove branch, managed by branch head Ko Hyeon-u, aiming to make reading more approachable for local preschoolers and elementary school students in an era of heavy media exposure.

The contest ran for two months beginning March 16, drawing 772 entries and a competition ratio of 32 to 1.