Eight students honored at The Korea Times-APLN Essay Contest Awards

By Yi Whan-woo

The Korea Times and the Asia Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) awarded the winners of their inaugural essay contest for young people on issues of nuclear proliferation and disarmament, Nov. 27.

Supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Korea Times-APLN Essay Contest was open to graduate and undergraduate students under the theme, “Youth, Disarmament and Peace in the Asia-Pacific Region.”

The ceremony was held at the newspaper's office in central Seoul, with all eight recipients except for one joining online or offline from Korea and abroad, amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases here.

The awards were presented by Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin, APLN Vice Chairman and Executive Director Moon Chung-in and Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Ham Sang-wook, with each giving a congratulatory speech.

“Congratulations to the winners joining here and through cyberspace,” Oh said. He also thanked everyone who submitted entries and those who helped to make the contest possible.

Oh noted the idea for the contest was brought up early this year by Moon, also a professor emeritus at Yonsei University and special security adviser to President Moon Jae-in, and gave special thanks to him.

“Now here we are, in a ceremony bearing the fruit of the professor's wisdom, Ambassador Ham's measured but wholesome support and my mad belief in their leadership,” Oh said.

Calling the contest “a celebrated event,” Moon Chung-in said its theme also has been a consistent topic for APLN.

He explained although the network has been a club of intellectuals including former foreign ministers and former prime ministers, it has been unable to reach the younger generations who he said “should be deciding our destiny.”

Regarding the foreign ministry's support, Moon said it was nice to witness its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

“I hope this event will continue to go, so that we can draw a much larger number of the young generations' participation in the event,” he added. “I hope the trilateral cooperation involving the foreign ministry, The Korea Times and APLN will continue.”

Deputy Minister Ham assessed that the contest had “undoubtedly kindled genuine interest in the disarmament agenda among the youth around the globe,” especially despite the COVID-19 crisis.

He said “young people have the potential to generate impetus with a fresh perspective that embraces diversity and inclusiveness to help to break” the nuclear stalemate witnessed in North Korea, Iran and other parts of the world.

Citing his contribution published in the Nov. 27 edition of The Korea Times, Ham stressed therefore it is “our pressing task to educate, engage and empower the youth in the areas of disarmament and non-proliferation, among others.”

“Doing so we will have a direct and lasting impact on our joint efforts to shape a more peaceful and prosperous future,” he said.

In a video message, John Tilemann, an APLN senior fellow who was a contest judge, said he was excited by “the ambition of the many entrants to tackle old issues in new ways.”

Yoo Dong-suk, a student at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, the U.S., won the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Award, the top award.

“As a master's student who aspires to pursue a career in non-proliferation and international security, it is such an honor to receive this award,” Yoo said in a video message received by the organizers in advance.

Yoo also received 2 million won and an award plaque.

Alexander M. Hynd from the University of New South Wales Sydney won The Korea Times Award, while Cho Fiona Hye-min from Ewha Womans University won The Asia-Pacific Leadership Network Award.

They each received 1 million won and a plaque.

Five others received honorable mentions ― Kim Chul-min from KAIST, Park Ji-hun from Yonsei University, Jang In-tae from Kyung Hee University, Kim Sang-hoon from Korea University and Cho Yong-su from Hanyang University.

They each received 500,000 won and a plaque.