Essay contest to celebrate 40 years of India-Korea ties

The first India-Korea friendship essay competition was declared open Thursday to mark 40 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Seoul.

The national-level essay competition will see over 1,000 schools from 50 cities across India take part.

Students will be writing on "Korea India friendship - yesterday, today and tomorrow".

"The essay competition has been launched so that Indian students get an opportunity to get closer to Korea and to make students remember the friendship, warmth and cordial relation that we share," said South Korean Ambassador Lee Joon-gyu.

"India, its film industry, history, Buddhism, food is very well known among the Korean people... so we want Indians to know about more about Korea," the envoy added.

Students between classes nine and twelve can take part and send in their entries either by post or email to the Korean Cultural Centre. The entries would then be evaluated by experts.

"We have cash prizes for the winners but most important is that five schools with the maximum entries will be provided with Korean paintings," said Kim Kum-pyoung, director of the cultural centre.

The last day for sending in entries is Aug 31. The website www.koreaindiaessay.com was also launched for students to get more information.

"This is just one of the events. We have a series of such events like the Kpop dance competition, painting contest for school students, first Korean Ambassadors Kukkiwon cup-national taekwondo championship 2013," said project coordinator Naveen Sharma.