Handwritten Letters to Book Characters: Over 10,000 Children Participate, 27 Award-Winning Works on Display

National Hangeul Museum and National Library for Children and Young Adults to Hold Contest Exhibition for One Month from October 1

Grand Prize Awarded to First Grader Kim Junhyuk's Letter on "Peach and the Caterpillar"
Traveling Exhibition Across the Country Next Year

Twenty-seven Hangul handwritten letters that children wrote directly to characters in books will be displayed together. This year, 10,679 elementary school students from across the country participated in the contest.

The work "To the Cute Caterpillar" by Kim Junhyuk, a first grader at Daegu Pyeongri Elementary School, won the grand prize at the 12th "Handwritten Korean Letter to a Character in a Book" contest. The letter expressed feelings after reading the picture book "Peach and the Caterpillar." National Hangeul Museum

The National Hangeul Museum and the National Library for Children and Young Adults announced on September 29 that the award-winning works from the 12th Hangul Handwritten Letter Contest to Characters in Books will be showcased at the outdoor exhibition hall of the Seoul National Library for Children and Young Adults from October 1 to November 1.

The contest was launched in 2015 to cultivate reading habits among children and to promote the beauty of Hangul. Celebrating its 12th edition this year, the event has seen participation from around 63,000 children nationwide through public libraries.

The Grand Prize, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award, was given to Kim Junhyuk, a first grader at Pyeongri Elementary School in Daegu, who wrote a letter after reading the picture book "Peach and the Caterpillar."

Kim expressed his own story and experience of coming to like peaches, addressed to the caterpillar in the book, through handwriting. The panel of judges unanimously selected his work for the grand prize. Song Migyeong, a children's book author and member of the judging panel, commented, "It was impressive that he didn't try to use elaborate language, but instead expressed his feelings with his own sincere words."

This exhibition will feature 27 award-winning works from the contest, including the Grand Prize piece. After the exhibition at the National Library for Children and Young Adults, the works will go on a traveling exhibition next year, making stops at about 10 regional libraries across the country.

Award-winning pieces from the Kyobo Handwriting Contest will also be presented. For one month starting October 1, the Seoul National Library for Children and Young Adults and Kyobo Book Centre's Gwanghwamun branch will jointly exhibit honored works from both the Hangul Handwritten Letter Contest and the 12th Kyobo Handwriting Contest. In addition, there will be a hands-on "Hangul Handwritten Letter Writing" experience event for visitors to participate in.

Lim Seonghwan, Director of the National Hangeul Museum, said, "The handwritten letters, filled with children's pure hearts and sincerity, will bring fresh inspiration and smiles to all visitors," adding, "I hope this will be a warm time for everyone to share in children's literary imagination."

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