181 language learners travel to Korea for Sejong Institute contest
Finalists in the writing category of the King Sejong Institute Korean speaking and writing contest, dressed in the robes of Joseon-era scholars, compete at Hotel Prumir in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of King Sejong Institute Foundation
HWASEONG, Gyeonggi Province —Amira Kamal Mohamed says she used to be a shy person who rarely spoke. That began to change a decade ago, when she took up Korean while living in her home country of Egypt. She found the language gave her far more ways to put her feelings into words than her native Arabic.
"In Arabic, 'sad' is just 'sad' and 'happy' is just 'happy,' but Korean has so many different expressions," said Mohamed, who studies at the King Sejong Institutes in Cairo and hopes to become a Korean language interpreter. "It let me express my emotions much more richly."
Mohamed was among 181 outstanding learners from 71 countries invited to Korea by the King Sejong Institute Foundation. On Wednesday, they gathered at Hotel Prumir in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to cheer on the 20 finalists of the foundation's Korean speaking and writing contests.
Amira Kamal Mohamed, a learner at the King Sejong Institute in Cairo, Egypt, poses during an interview with The Korea Times at Hotel Purmir in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Pyo Kyung-min
The event came two days before the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Hangeul Day this Friday.
It offered a glimpse of how far interest in the Korean language has spread, as many participants traced their first engagement with the language to K-pop and K-dramas.
Mohamed was first drawn in by K-pop boy band EXO, but said a passion built on K-pop alone would not have lasted.
"If your interest in the language comes only from K-pop, I think you end up giving up once that interest fades," she said. "In my case, the love moved on to the language itself."
Jeanne Perreault, who works at the Superior Court of Quebec, Canada, followed a similar path. She began listening to K-pop around 2019 and taught herself Korean. In 2024, she enrolled at King Sejong Institute Montreal to work on her speaking skills, which she still finds to be most difficult because she has few chances to practice outside class.
Her effort has paid off. Her teacher gave her a bilingual Korean-English poetry collection, which she now studies by reading it in both languages.
"Being able to read it makes me really feel that my Korean has improved," she said.
King Sejong Institute learners from around the world take a group selfie during the final round of the institute's Korean speaking and writing contest at Hotel Prumir in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of King Sejong Institute Foundation
Record turnout
Competition for this year's contest was stiff. The speaking category drew 284 applicants for each finalist spot and the writing category drew 105.
Both finals on Wednesday were held on the theme "Korea in My Heart." Eleven writing finalists from eight countries, including Tajikistan, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan and Egypt, wrote their essays while dressed in the robes of Joseon-era scholars. Vietnam sent the largest contingent, with four finalists.
In the afternoon, nine speaking finalists from countries including India, Hungary, Ecuador, Cuba, Uzbekistan and Iran each gave a five-minute speech and answered a question from one of the judges. An audience award was also up for grabs.
The speakers took the theme in many directions. One described Korea as an unfinished letter, written in songs and drama scenes, that she had kept tucked away and returned to as her dream grew. Another spoke of how learning Korean led her down an unexpected path to the friends she now studies with.
Marjan Haghi of Iran won the grand prize in the speaking category, and Sara Larenas Guerrero of Ecuador took the excellence award. In the writing category, Nguyen Bao Chau of Vietnam won the grand prize, and Mariam Khalid of Egypt received the excellence award.
King Sejong Institute learners try taekwondo on the sidelines of the final round of the King Sejong Institute Korean speaking and writing contest in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of King Sejong Institute Foundation
The contest is part of the foundation's 2026 invitation program for outstanding learners, which brought a record 357 participants to Korea this year. Along with the 181 King Sejong Institute learners, the program includes 176 others, among them winners of the 2026 Korean Culture Contest. Participants will experience Korean language and culture in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in two rounds.
On Thursday, speaking finalists will share their experiences with Hangeul and the Korean language at Hangeul Hanmadang, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. On Friday and Oct. 29, participants will tour Gyeongbok Palace in hanbok, Korea's traditional clothing. The roughly 360 outfits were selected by Lee Jin-hee, a Korea National University of Arts professor who has worked as a costume director for Korean films and dramas.
Winners of the King Sejong Institute Korean speaking and writing contest pose with officials from the King Sejong Institute Foundation and the university professors who judged the contest after the awards ceremony at Hotel Prumir in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of King Sejong Institute Foundation
Perreault, who is visiting Korea for the first time, said she is most looking forward to the palace tour. For Mohamed, simply being here still feels unreal.
"I studied Korean for 10 years, but I never once imagined I could come to Korea," Mohamed said. "It feels like I'm inside a K-drama."
What she wants most is an evening by the Han River, eating instant noodles and delivery food like a local.