Seoul Yunus Emre Institute (YEI) held the 3^rd South Korea National Turkish Speaking Contest.  The contest was held in cooperation with the Center for Critical Foreign Languages, operating at Hankuk University for Foreign Studies (HUFS) and the Mediterranean Studies Institute, which operates under Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS).

YUNUS EMRE THEMED “KOREA SPEAKS TURKISH” EVENT

Taking place between 24 November-3 December 2021, the event’s theme was "Yunus Emre" and its slogan was "Korea Speaks Turkish". The event was organized on the occasion of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey declaring of 2021 as “the Year of Yunus Emre and Turkish Language" and including this special year among UNESCO's commemorative anniversaries.

Students learning Turkish at HUFS and BUFS competed in the challenging semi-finals, passed the preliminary stage and 12 students qualified for the finals.

KOREANS TALKED ABOUT YUNUS’ LIFE AND LITERARY WORKS

Within the framework of the theme chosen specifically for the Year of Yunus Emre and Turkish Language, the contestants gave speeches on Yunus Emre's life and literary works in two categories: basic and advanced.

The event started with the opening remarks by Ersin Erçin, Turkey's Ambassador to Seoul. Nearly 80 students participated in the online event and enjoyed the Turkish language festival in Korea. Moderated by Oh Chong-Jin from Seoul Yunus Emre Institute, the contest’s jury composed of Ambassador Erçin, Seoul Education Counselor Esin Tezbaşaran, Seoul YEI Education Supervisor Özgür Can Yıldız, Prof. Engin Uzun, Prof. Lee Nana and Prof. Yang Min-Jee.      

Director of the Mediterranean Studies Institute Prof. Yoon Yeong-Soo, Seoul THY Manager Mehmet Gürülkan, Seoul Commercial Counselor Münir Oğuz, Military Attachés Abdullah Sağır and Utku Keskin were also among the participants.

THE HYMN “YELLOW FLOWER” WAS SUNG

While Yeji Kim came in first, Dabin Kim second and Garam Oh third places at the basic level contest; Garam Oh’s performance of the hymn "Yellow Flower" with his guitar was an audience favorite. The lyrics of the hymn were by Yunus Emre and the composition by Composer Tahir Karagöz.

After a fierce competition at the intermediate-advanced level, Gayeon Han took first place, Jung Ju-Hyung second, and Ha-Jeong Jo third.

At the award ceremony which will be held face to face on 27 January 2022; first place winners will be awarded round-trip Seoul-Istanbul tickets from Turkish Airlines, while second and third place winners will be awarded a cash prize, in addition to their participation certificates.