Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Economic essay contest winners awarded
Woori Bank CEO Lee Soon-woo, right, and commendation award winner Bright Gameli Mawudor, a Ph.D student at Pukyong National University, from Ghana, talk during the 10th English Economic Essay Contest awards ceremony at the Lotte Hotel, downtown Seoul, Wednesday. / Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
The Korea Times held an awards ceremony Wednesday for the 10th English Economic Essay Contest at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul. The annual contest was sponsored by Woori Bank and Korean Air.
The winners were selected from a large number of entries from all over the world. The subject for Korean entries was, “How can Korean banks improve online security systems to better protect customers from cyber crimes, such as hacking?” and the subject for international entries was “How can Korea have Samsung- or Hyundai-like global players in the financial sector?”
Judges said that the level of the essays has improved year by year, with more diversified applicants from a larger number of countries.
Grand prizes went to freshman Ku Yae-rin of Kyung Hee University, and senior Deborah Cheok of the National University of Singapore.
Woori Bank CEO Lee Soon-woo congratulated the winners and promised to continue supporting the competition.
“This contest is very meaningful as it has given many students opportunities to pay greater interest to the banking and financial industry. Young people’s greater attention will help boost the Korean banking industry," Lee said.
Lee also agreed that the Korean financial industry needs to hire foreign talent to boost its international competitiveness.
Steve Shideler, a junior at Athabasca University in Canada grabbed the runner-up prize. Three students ― Hong Soon-young, a second-year graduate student at Hapdong Theological Seminary; Bright Gameli Mawudor, a Ph.D student at Pukyong National University; and Victor Philip Cornet, a Ph.D student at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis ― took home commendation awards.
Ku’s winning essay was titled, “Upgraded software security to power banks,” while Cheok wrote a piece, titled “Foreign talent to help globalize Korean banks.”
“This prize came as a big honor to me as it is a result of all the efforts that I put into the essay. Also, it was a good opportunity to have a deeper understanding of technical problems in the banking industry," said Ku during the awards ceremony.
She received a round-trip ticket between Seoul and Los Angeles.
“It is an honor to receive the grand prize for this year’s essay contest. I am sure all the participants did a great job with their essays, too. Writing this essay has given me a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Korean market,” Deborah Cheok said in an email. “It has been an enjoyable experience because of my interest in Korea and its culture. This essay contest is a great opportunity for international students to provide their perspective on Korea's economy.”
She received a round-trip ticket between Singapore and Seoul.
“I felt honored to be given this award and a chance to participate in this event. I believe a lot more of such competitions should be organized to enable openness to ideas, not just locally but also from foreign perspectives. It will thus lead to better implementations and globalization for Korean organizations,” Gameli Mawudor said during the ceremony.
Korea Times President Lee Chang-sup said, “The essays were written based on a deep understanding of Korean culture.”
Woori has sponsored the competition since it began in 2005.