Korean Speech Contest Held in PH for the 4th Year

Since the early 2000s, Hallyu or Korean cultural wave has become a noteworthy force shaping the Filipino lifestyle. Locals have become accustomed to following top-rating Koreanovelas, supporting K-Pop celebrities, and even emulating the latest Korean fashion. Seoul emerged as a city to check off bucket lists, and Hangul became a hot language to learn.

Maria Concepcion Chua, a student from the University of the Philippines Diliman, had a deeper appreciation of the Korean culture after visiting the country and learning the language. “Besides Hallyu, [Korea] has its amazing culture, scenic places, and wonderful people. It is because of these [things] that I acquired a lot of lessons and realizations. Thanks to the opportunity of living in Korea, my life has changed, and I achieved that change through learning Korean [language],” she said.

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Maria Concepcion Chua, Jannin Alegado, and Angeli Marie Baclea-an bested 8 other contestants for the top 3 awards of the 2015 Korean Speech Contest.

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Chua is the grand winner of this year’s Korean Speech Contest, organized by the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in the Philippines. The competition was held on July 4, 2015 at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) headquarters in Taguig City and is participated by fluent Korean language speakers from all over the country.

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The winners of the 2015 Korean Speech Contest with judges and special guests:TESDA Public Information Office Director Marta Hernandez; Ateneo de Manila University professor Sarah Domingo-Lipura; Korea International School Manila Principal HWANG Sun-Tae; KCC Director OH Choong-Suk; Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines Head CHANG Eun-Gap; and Korea Tourism Organization Manila Director PARK In-Shik

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Coming second place was Jannin Alegado from Cebu, and Angeli Marie Baclea-an from Tacloban placed third. The winners of the competition all took home cash prizes and souvenirs; additionally, Chua was awarded the grand prize of trip for 2 to famous vacation destination, Jeju Island.

Korean Cultural Center, in cooperation with TESDA and The United Korean Community Associations of Cebu, Davao, and Iloilo, presented the event.

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Text and photos by Mina Loyola