The Korea Herald, Seoul National University of Education and the British Embassy awarded 160 primary and secondary students first, second and third-place prizes for their performance in an English-language contest during an award ceremony honoring the hard-working young people and their families at the British Embassy on Tuesday.

Some 160 young people prevailed out of more than 1,500 who submitted essays in November last year for the English-language essay contest organized to promote enthusiasm for learning written English. 
 

“We organized the essay contest to motivate and inspire young people because they are a new global generation, and English will be vital to their well-being in the future,” said Kwon Yong-kuk, executive editor of The Junior Herald, a weekly English-language publication dedicated to young people.

“We cooperated with Seoul National University of Education and the British Embassy because we all have a special interest in communicating effectively in English and we all want very much to help young people learn English well,” Kwon said.

Seoul National University of Education president Shin Hang-kyun and British Ambassador to Korea Scott Wightman congratulated the young people and their families for their performance during the ceremony, Wightman adding that their hard work would serve them well in the future as English was the international language of business and diplomacy.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)