Animated video on Princess Suriratna (Queen Huh), Photo on Korean-Indian Thali win Korea-India Friendship (Dosti) Contest 2020

South Korean embassy has announced the winners of the Photo/Video Contest. Over 1000 contestants from 31 states across India submitted their videos and photographs during September month this year. The winners were awarded round-trip flight tickets to South Korea, cash prizes etc.

ACN Correspondent On Nov 24, 2020

NEW DELHI: Rachna Sehrawat, a schoolgirl from Delhi has won the first prize in the video category, and Khushi Anjali Besan from Jharkhand the top prize in the photo category in the Korea-India Friendship (Dosti) Photo/Video Contest 2020.

Both the top winners have also won round-trip flight tickets to South Korea as well as cash prizes.

In order to strengthen the friendship between South Korea and India, and to uplift the spirits of our Indian youths fatigued by the global Covid-19 pandemic, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in New Delhi organized this contest.

“From 1^st September to 30^th September 2020, we received over 1,000 entries from all corners of India. Submissions were from 31 states and union territories such as Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, etc.,” said a statement from the embassy.

Rachna Sehrawat, an 18-year-old schoolgirl from Delhi won the first prize in the video category. In her animated video titled “Deep Bond between Korea & India,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRMN_EqCMW8) she beautifully expresses connections between our two countries, which dates back to some 2,000 years ago when Indian Princess Huh from Ayodhya married Korean King Kim Suro. She receives two round-trip flight tickets to South Korea, as well as a cash prize of Rs. 60,000.

There were two separate second prize winners, Rosemary from Tamil Nadu and Sidharth Rawat from Uttarakhand. Rosemary depicts well the similarities between Korea and South India.

Idli is similar to Korean rice cake ‘Tteok.’ Korean language and Tamil have around 1,500 words that happen to have the same pronunciation and same meaning. “아빠”(APPA, meaning father) in Korean is “அப்பா” (APPA, meaning father) in Tamil and “엄마”(AMMA, meaning mother) in Korean is “அம்மா”(AMMA, meaning mother) in the Tamil language. Sidharth’s video well shows the synergy that we can have when Korean culture meets Indian culture. His sister performs the Bharatnatyam dance is in front of Gyeongbokyung Palace, a royal palace in Seoul, and a Korean traditional dance called Buchaechum in front of Tajmahal. They both receive a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 along with a cash prize of Rs. 30,000. In the third prize category, three winners were announced with each to receive one Innisfree Korean cosmetic set in addition to Rs. 15,000 as the cash prize.

In the Photo category, Khushi Anjali Besan from Jharkhand won 1^st prize. She recreated “Thali” (https://www.facebook.com/koreanembassyindia/posts/3426407007405751) plate full of dishes of India like “Gujiya” from U.P and “papad” from Gujarat as well as “Kimchi rice”, “kimbap” and many more from Korea. She receives two round-trip flight tickets to South Korea, in addition to a cash prize of Rs. 30,000.

Kuntal Kumar Roy from West Bengal expressed a perception regarding South Korea in a remote village of India (https://www.facebook.com/koreanembassyindia/posts/3426433740736411). A tailor in that remote village of India had engaged himself in the flag making both for India and South Korea, that images South Korea is not just present in urban areas but also in the land of rural India. Second Prize winners including him receive a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Rs. 15,000. Three third prize winners receive an Innisfree cosmetic set and Rs. 10,000 as the cash prize.

For the remaining contestants, a lucky draw was held where a total of twelve contestants emerged as winners. Three of the top lucky draws receive the LG G8X Smartphone while nine others receive Innisfree Cosmetic Sets.

In order to ensure fair and transparent judgment, the photos and videos were posted on the Embassy YouTube and Facebook for an online vote from 12^th October to 25^th October 2020. In addition, an expert panel comprising of artists, reporters, and Embassy officials judged the photo and video submissions. 50% of the online votes and 50% of the expert panel votes were tallied to declare the final winners.

The Embassy was delighted at the enthusiasm displayed for KOR-INDIA Friendship. We were pleasantly surprised at the sheer volume of submissions, as well as the artistic creativity of the videos and photos. The Embassy of the Republic of Korea will continue to work towards deepening emotional closeness between Indian and Korean people by hosting more of such events that engage our Indian friends.

The winning videos and photos are announced in the link below.