Share your 'K-Hopeful Ladder' policy experience on video, ministry says

A new video contest is inviting the public to share firsthand experiences with government welfare policies in their own words.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Thursday that it is accepting submissions through Oct. 4 for a video contest calling on citizens to highlight policies from "K-Hopeful Ladder," a government welfare information guide.

"K-Hopeful Ladder" consolidates livelihood support policies scattered across multiple ministries, organizing them by life stage and lifestyle category so people can quickly find benefits relevant to them.

The contest seeks videos in any format capturing personal experiences with policies listed in the guide — including how a policy changed a participant's life or useful information gained during the application process.

Entries are divided into a general category and a children's category, open to those born on or after Jan. 1, 2014. Any member of the public may enter individually or as a team of up to four people. Participants may submit either a short video (30 seconds to under one minute) or a long video (one to three minutes). Videos created using generative AI are also eligible.

Following judging, 37 winning entries will be selected and announced in November, with a total prize pool of 33 million won ($22,500). The minister of culture, sports and tourism's grand prize — awarded in both the general and children's categories — carries cash prizes of 10 million won and 3 million won, respectively.

A special prize of 5 million won will also go to the entry that best captures a policy tied to the current government's 123 national policy tasks.

Additional prizes will be awarded under the Korea Press Foundation chairperson's award: a top prize (one entry each in the general and children's categories, 2 million won each), an excellence prize (six entries each, 500,000 won each) and an encouragement prize (10 entries each, 250,000 won each).

"Policies travel further when conveyed through the voices of those who have actually experienced them, rather than through one-sided explanations," an official from the ministry's public communications office said. "We believe stories shared by people who have benefited from the Hopeful Ladder will make a real difference in the lives of other citizens. We look forward to broad public participation."