"There is no better and more beautiful alphabet than Korean anywhere in the world"

- Daegu University hosted the fourth Chinese/Joseon Literature Contest Awarding Ceremony

- Despite the influence of China on the people of Joseon, interest is increasing yearly: Around 410 works were entered from all over China

- A total of 18 contestants received awards: Kim Man-seok, Cha Gyeong-na, Kim Gye-ok, and Sim Jeong-ho received the "Outstanding Achievement Award" which includes a 4-day 3-night Korean culture exploration opportunity in POSCO, Gumi LG, and Gyeongju

"It is true that the use of Chinese and the spread of Chinese culture is prevalent among the people of Joseon. But I will love Korean more and study more. I will also teach Korean to my children. There is no better alphabet than Korean anywhere in the world."

Daegu University (President Lee Yong-doo) hosted the fourth Chinese/Joseon Literature Contest Award Ceremony at the Seongsan Hall Grand Conference Room, Gyeongsan Campus at 11:00 am Tuesday July 28.

Winner of the "Outstanding Achievement Award", Kim Man-seok (20, Male, Maehagu si Joseon Middle School) for prose 「Gunbul (Floor Heating Fire)」blushed while he delivered his impressions. Kim was very glad to receive the award and was so happy to have an opportunity to travel around Korea that he could not fall asleep for a few nights due to his great excitement. Kim received very strict Korean language education from his parents who are Joseon and even though he was educated in both Chinese and Korean he had a very strong affection toward Korean. As a result, he bought his own Korean language textbooks and learned about Korea regularly through the Internet. Kim's dream is to be an author who can write in Korean, Chinese, and English freely, but most of all he wants to be a Korean author.

Daegu University has hosted the Literature Contest targeting Chinese-Koreans jointly with Jilin Newspaper in China since 2006. In the first year, the award ceremony was held in China and in 2007 the award was held at Daegu University with the sponsorship of the National Institute of Korean Language. This year's winners received an opportunity to experience Korean culture. In 2008, the ceremony was held in the Jilin Newspaper complex in China and this year in 2009 the award ceremony was held at Daegu University. The winners also received an opportunity to travel around Korean and explore Korean culture for 4 days and 3 nights.

In this year's contest, around 410 outstanding works were submitted, which is 100 more than previous years. There were five Chinese and two Korean judges including Yun Yun-jin (Professor of Coinage Department, Jilin University), Gang Hyo-geun (Novelist, Vice-Critic of Jangbaeksan Magazine), and Lee Im-won (Poet, Dean of Yanbian Literature Research Center).

The award ceremony was conducted by the president of Daegu University - Lee Yong-doo and the editor in chief of the Jilin Newspaper with four award grantees from this year and six award grantees from last year. Of particular note were Kim Man-seok and Kim Gye-ok (55, Female, resident of Wangqing) whose impression speeches expressed their love of their mother tongue, of the people of Joseon, the Korean language, and the difficulties they faced as members of a minority race.

Beside the best award winner in prose - Kim, 「Baekdu Mountain」by Cha Gyeong-na (16, Female, Yanji si 10 Middle School), 「Mother's Window Edge」by Kim Gye-ok, and 「I didn't see it」by Sim Jeong-ho (70, Male, Longjing si) were awarded with the best prize in each category.

For this year's contest, literature works were submitted from Joseon school students and ordinary citizens from last December 1 to this May 20 to the Jilin Newspaper Co. in China. Entries came from as far afield as Changchun, Beijing, Shanghai, Yanji, and Heilong Jiang.

The president of Daegu University, Lee Yong-doo, who hosted this event said, "This started as part of a culture project to share love for unrepresented minorities, however it grew dew to Chinese-Koreans' enormous interest and impressive reaction. This event, which mirrors Daegu University's foundation ideology, allows us to practice our love for the nation as well as transmit, maintain, and spread the Korean language, so it makes possible two effects, thus I am thankful and expect to develop new areas of overseas Korean's literature adhering to the support of many organizations and institutes."

The president of Jilin Newspaper Co., Nam Yeong-jeon said, "I sincerely appreciate Daegu University's warm welcome, great hospitality, and wonderful fraternity besides the physical support. I also want to deliver many thanks to all Daegu University's staff who showed endless support and encouragement and made this event possible, especially the Korean culture exploration in Korea which is all Chinese-Koreans' long-cherished desire."