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| Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin, left, and Woori Financial Group Chairman and CEO Son Tae-seung, third from right, pose with the winners of the 18th English Economic Essay Contest during an award ceremony at the Korea Press Foundation building in central Seoul, Tuesday. From left are Oh, runner-up Ju Young-jin, commendation award recipients Venkatesan Dhivya and Chong Hye-seung, Son, Grand Prize winner Kim Ju-hyuk and commendation award winner Bastakoti Alok. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Yi Whan-woo
The Korea Times awarded seven winners of its annual economic essay contest for university students, Tuesday, who wrote about one of two challenges faced by the finance industry ― attracting tech-savvy Generation MZ, a Korean term referring to Millennials and Generation Z, as customers, and better implementing the principles of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).
The 18th English Economic Essay Contest was open to university undergraduate and graduate school students in Korea and abroad. The event has been sponsored since its inception by Woori Bank, a flagship affiliate of Woori Financial Group.
This year's contestants had a choice to write on either of two subjects: "What should be the strategies for financial companies or how should they use their platforms to lure MZ Generation customers?" and "What ESG practices can be adopted by financial companies such as banks?"
The award ceremony was held at the Korea Press Foundation building in central Seoul, joined by five of the seven recipients studying in Korea.
The awards were presented by Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin and Woori Financial Group Chairman and CEO Son Tae-seung, who each gave congratulatory speeches.
The Grand Prize went to Kim Ju-hyuk, a Yonsei University student majoring in economics and comparative literature and culture, and Karlina Lisbeth Castillo Jimenez, an MBA student at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in the Dominican Republic.
The runners-up were Ju Young-jin, an international studies student at Yonsei University's Underwood International College, and Shristi Tiwari, a master's student in agricultural extension at the Agriculture and Forestry University in Nepal.
Three others received commendation awards.
They were Venkatesan Dhivya, a Ewha Womans University student majoring in international studies, Bastakoti Alok, a convergence tourism student at the Graduate School of International Tourism at Hanyang University, and Chong Hye-seung, studying fashion business management at the State University of New York Korea.
Each of the seven received an award plaque plus cash prize ― 3 million won for the Grand Prize, 2 million won for the runner-up award and 1 million won for the commendation award.
For the first time in its history, the ceremony was also held as an "Alumni Night," inviting former recipients to meet the latest winners and expand their networks.
President-Publisher Oh Young-jin said the newspaper was pleased to receive "many fine pieces of work, more than ever" for the 2022 contest and accordingly congratulated the winners.
Oh reckoned that the economy is a criterion for measuring competence of an individual and a nation, and that English makes it possible to increase such competence by multiple folds.
"And for the past 18 years, the English Economic Essay Contest offered numerous opportunities for university students to explore the economy and express their relevant thoughts in English," he said. "In that regard, I am proud to say the contest contributed to training young people to adapt themselves in advance for 'economic battles' that happen day and night."
Chairman Son lauded The Korea Times for "significantly contributing to deepening understanding on economy among university students through the contest and helping them grow as global talents."
He added, "Woori Financial Group is pleased to be the sponsor of the contest from its beginning."
The chairman added he found the thoughts and opinions shared by the contestants to be "fresh and sincere," expressing hope that they "will provide new ways of thinking and insights for not only The Korea Times readers but also for Woori Financial Group and rest of the financial industry."
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