Korea through the lens: winners' views [PHOTOS]

GRAND AWARD: "View Over Seoul" by Iordan Daniel Teodorescu from the Romanian Embassy. Courtesy of CICI

By Jung Da-min

"View of Seoul" has won the grand prize at the second annual video and photograph contest organized by Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), a non-profit organization affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The photograph, depicting Seoul at night, when alleys and buildings are lit up, is the work of Iordan Daniel Teodorescu at the Romanian Embassy in Seoul.

The contest, called "Korea Through the Lens, Video & Photography," ran from May 1 to July 16, with the optional themes of "Streets of Korea" or "Korean Food."

A total of 264 submissions were made from 21 countries including the U.S., France, Canada, Italy, Spain, Iraq, Israel, Iran, South Africa, Romania and Indonesia.

Sixteen works have been selected to be displayed and screened at the ninth annual Culture Communication Forum Night at the Grand Salon of Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul on Aug. 29.

The Excellence Award went to Oh Kweon-yeol's "Morning Walk," a photo of the stonewall walkway of thatched-roof houses at Naganeupseong; a Korean fortress in Nagan-myeon, Suncheon, South Jeolla Province; and to Min Kyoung-chan's "Alley Talk," showing an alley in Incheon, where grandmothers sit under a mural of sunflowers.

The winner of last year's excellence award, Petris Vaivars, Latvian ambassador to Korea, won the Special Award with for a photo titled, "The Guards of Seoul," showing guards at the gate of the Deoksugung Palace, in downtown Seoul.

[Excellence Award]