The Korea Times is pleased to announce the winners of the seventh annual English Economic Essay Contest for University Students.

The Grand Awards go to Choi Joon-woo of Sahmyook University, the winner from the Korean entries, and Hannah Nooney of the Claremont McKenna College in Calif., United States, from the international entries.

Choi will be provided with a round-trip ticket from Seoul to Los Angeles and Nooney will receive a round-trip ticket from Los Angeles to Seoul.

We named only one second-place winner: Guillaume Darier, an M.A. candidate in banking and finance at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. The prize for the second-place winner is a laptop computer.

The Commendation Awards winners are Korea University Business School student Lee Seong-min; Samuel Gendreau, an international relations student at the University of British Columbia, Canada; and Robert MacGregor, another student from the Claremont McKenna College. Each of them will be given a round-trip ticket from Seoul to Jeju Island.

Korean students were asked to write essays on “What are the biggest impediments for Korea’s overseas expansion?’’ and international students were asked to write essays on “What will make Korea more attractive to Korean investors?’’ The entries of the winners will be published in The Korea Times that will commemorate its 61st anniversary on Nov. 1. All winners will be individually contacted for information regarding the award ceremony, scheduled for November.

The Korea Times expresses special thanks to all applicants and Woori Bank, the sponsor of the international essay contest.