223 works (124 literature and 99 fine arts) received

19 people each in literature and art categories selected as winners

The 6th Student Jeju 4·3 Literary Contest was held on May 13 at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park. The annual event is jointly hosted by the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education. It resumed four years after it was suspended due to COVID-19.

Despite the rainy weather, 201 students (97 elementary school students, 75 middle school students, and 31 high school students) participated in the event. The students who joined the contest expressed their thoughts on peace and human rights related to Jeju 4·3 in literature (poems, essays) and art (imaginary pictures, pictures drawn from nature).

A total of 223 works (124 in literature and 99 in fine arts) were received and 19 winners each were selected in the categories of literature and fine arts. The Grand Prize winners were Bu Seo-rin (first-year student at Jeju Girls’ Middle School), who wrote an essay titled “Nameless Dog Gaettongi,” and Yong Ye-ji (third-year student at Hallim High School), who painted “Camellia Flowers Blooming With Tears.”

Bu said, “On the one hand, I am happy to receive this prize, but on the other hand, it is heartbreaking to think that if Jeju 4·3 had not taken place, so many people would have lived with greater joy than I am feeling now.” Yong recounted what she had heard from her grandmother on Jeju 4·3. “My painting is based on her story, and I hope that it will bring consolation to my grandmother and other victims and their families,” she said.

The Grand Prize was presented in the name of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Superintendent of Education and the winners also received additional prizes worth 500,000 won each. Those who won the Best Prize (one for each category for elementary, middle, and high school), the Excellence Prize (two for each category), and the Encouragement Prize (three to five for each category) were also awarded additional prizes worth 300,000 won, 200,000 won, and 100,000 won, respectively. The award-winning works will be compiled into a collection, which will be open to the public.