Moorim Paper to host 7th paper airplane competition in Jinju on Oct. 17

A parent-child relay event in which a parent and child team up to fly a single paper airplane will make its debut at an official domestic paper airplane competition for the first time.

Moorim Paper announced Thursday that it will hold the 7th Moorim Paper Korean Cup Paper Airplane Competition on Oct. 17 at the main stadium of Jinju General Sports Complex in South Gyeongsang Province.

Launched in 2017, the event is the only official paper airplane competition in South Korea whose records are certified by the Korea Paper Airplane Association. Thousands of participants ranging from elementary school students to adults took part in last year's sixth edition. The distance event produced a new all-time domestic record of 72 meters at that competition.

The biggest change this year is the introduction of a relay event in which a parent and child compete as a two-person team — the child launches the airplane and the parent catches and relaunches it. Pre-registration, which opened Sept. 21, sold out within three hours.

A special consolation round will also be introduced for participants eliminated in the regular qualifying heats. The elementary school division will be split into lower and upper grades, and the number of award categories sponsored by the Jinju Education Support Office will expand from four to seven.

The competition features three events: distance flying, duration flying and the new relay. Winners in each event will receive an official champion record certificate issued by the Korea Paper Airplane Association, along with the Jinju Mayor Award, the Air Education and Training Command Award and the Jinju Education Support Office Award.

Off-competition activities will also be expanded. At the "Paper Camp" zone, visitors can make their own paper tables and paper sun visors. Other activities include a natural-pulp capsule prize draw, a four-shot photo booth using photo printing paper, a paper pool and a paper airplane triathlon.

Paper airplanes used at the event will be collected in designated "Paper Airplane Zero" bins and sent to recycling companies. Nearby food trucks will use Moorim's pulp-molded containers instead of plastic, and paper wet wipes will also be provided.

Last year's competition offered three events — duration flying, distance flying and aerobatic flying. This year, the aerobatic event has been replaced by the family-oriented relay. Pre-registration for all events is now closed; on the day of the competition, additional spots will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the venue.