Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il Attends "55th Pan-Korean Unification Culture Festival Awards Ceremony"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] Yongin Special Mayor Lee Sang-il attended the '55th Pan-Korean Unification Culture Festival Awards Ceremony' held at the City Hall Convention Center on the 8th and presented awards for outstanding works selected through competitions on the theme of Korean Peninsula peace and reunification.

The event was jointly hosted by the Yongin Citizens Council for National Unification and the Ministry of Unification, and is the longest-running competition for literary and artistic works with a unification theme in Korea.

This year's competition featured diverse categories including essay writing, webtoons, posters, and photography, with 88 participants from elementary, middle, high school, university, and general divisions receiving the Presidential Award, Prime Minister's Award, and Minister of Unification Award.

The mayor presented Yongin Special Mayor's Awards to two Yongin residents selected for outstanding works in the essay category. The recipients are Lee Ha-ryul, a student at Heonsan Middle School who wrote the work 'Around the 27th,' and Lee Han-min from Yongin Livestock Cooperative who wrote 'Different Paths Between North and South.'

Mayor Lee stated, "To accelerate Korean Peninsula peace and reunification, it is important to have a firm understanding of reunification, and I appreciate the National Unification Council taking the lead in strengthening this aspiration and will through the Pan-Korean Unification Culture Festival. I hope this competition becomes an opportunity to realize the liberal democracy maintained by our predecessors' sacrifice and to spread the will for national reunification, and as mayor, I will gladly participate in this effort."

Meanwhile, the Yongin Citizens Council for National Unification has annually spread messages of patriotism and peace reunification through the Liberation Day memorial Taegeuk flag distribution and Pan-Korean Unification Culture Festival events to convey the value and importance of reunification to the local community and future generations for national unification.