Kyobo Life Insurance Holds Gwanghwamun Wall Slogan University Student Essay Contest Awards Ceremony

Daekyu Cho: "A Resonance That AI Cannot Imitate"
Encouragement for Young People

Kyobo Life Insurance announced on the 28th that it held the award ceremony for the '2026 Gwanghwamun Wall Slogan University Student Essay Contest' on the 26th at the Kyobo Life Insurance Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

On the 26th, at the Kyobo Life Insurance Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, a commemorative photo was taken at the awards ceremony for the "2026 Gwanghwamun Billboard University Student Essay Contest" with Cho Daekyu, CEO of Kyobo Life Insurance (center in the photo), the award recipients, and Kim Yeonsu, novelist and member of the Gwanghwamun Billboard Text Selection Committee (far right). Photo by Kyobo Life Insurance

The contest was organized to foster critical thinking through writing and to share stories of young people's lives. The Gwanghwamun Wall Slogan University Student Essay Contest, which began in 2015, marked its 12th anniversary this year. This year, a record total of 2,569 essays were submitted, a 47% increase from last year.

Around 40 people attended the ceremony, including Daekyu Cho, President and CEO of Kyobo Life Insurance, members of the Gwanghwamun Wall Slogan Selection Committee, award recipients, and their families.

President Cho stated, "In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) can write on our behalf, the winning works, which were crafted with careful thought and effort, resonated in ways that AI cannot imitate. I hope this contest will serve as a stepping stone toward your dreams."

This year's contest was held under the themes of "Discovery" and "Miracle," which are messages from the spring edition of the Gwanghwamun Wall Slogan. Kyobo Life Insurance selected one Grand Prize winner, one Excellence Award winner, two Outstanding Award winners, and five Encouragement Award winners through preliminary and main evaluations by the selection committee.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Min Lee, a student at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, for the essay "Jungnangcheon Chessboard." The work depicted the process of the protagonist, who was feeling lost after failing to find a job, regaining vitality after spontaneously changing his jogging route.

Novelist Yeonsu Kim, a member of the selection committee, commented during the review, "Many submissions addressed anxieties about the future, but what matters is to live faithfully in the present. 'Jungnangcheon Chessboard' demonstrated that small attempts at change can lead to amazing experiences, and the courage and spirit of challenge rooted in the specifics of life stood out."

The full texts of the winning essays are available on the Kyobo Life Insurance website under the 'Gwanghwamun Wall Slogan' section.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.