"Any Writer Can Take on the Korea Content Awards Story Category"—'Ille' and Four Grand Prize Winners Emerge from 163:1 Competition

[Financial News] The Korea Content Awards Story Category, also known as 'Korea Content Awards Story Category,' is the largest story contest in Korea, open to all story creators who wish to participate.
Jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), this is the only contest in the industry where stories compete regardless of genre—be it publishing, film, animation, or webtoons—making it highly credible within the field.
This year, a total of 2,448 entries were submitted, resulting in a fierce competition ratio of 163:1. Chaeheon, who won the Grand Prize for 'Post-it Lady,' commented on the 26th of last month, "This is a contest I have always challenged myself with every time I completed a work. I have grown through repeated failures and advancing through the preliminary and main rounds. At the awards ceremony, those memories flashed before my eyes."■ Grand Prize Goes to 'Ille' by Jeju Native Writer Lee YumiFifteen winning works were selected through 153 days of preliminary, main, and final judging. A panel of 177 judges participated, and the Grand Prize (Presidential Award) went to 'Ille' by Lee Yumi.
Lee Myung-han, the final judging chair and CEO of eggiscoming, remarked, "This work builds an original universe based on traditional folklore. The entries, including those that reinterpreted historical themes and deeply explored modern life, all demonstrated outstanding creativity and completeness."
The awards ceremony was held as part of the Contents IP Market 2025 event at COEX in Gangnam, Seoul, from the 25th to the 27th of last month. This year, in addition to the Business Matching Meeting connecting creators and production companies, the Award Winners Open Talk was introduced for the first time, drawing attention.
'Ille' is a work by Lee Yumi, who has been active in Jeju as a broadcast writer and producer, gaining recognition for her Jeju-themed creations. After winning the Grand Prize in the Korea Content Awards Story Category in 2022 with 'In the Flower Garden, There Are Flowers,' she has once again proven her storytelling prowess by taking the top honor this year.
The title 'Ille' means 'seven days' in the Jeju dialect and is also the name of the main character, a young girl. The story follows the fantasy coming-of-age journey of a girl who makes a deal with 'Ille-shin,' the deity of childcare and illness, to save her ailing sister over the course of seven days. Combining the myth of the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of the East Sea marrying Baramutto, the local land god of Jeju, and becoming Ille-dang-shin, with Jeju's unique seven-day wedding culture, the work creates a distinctive universe called 'The Wedding Banquet of the Gods.' Lee Yumi, who lived near the Gotjawal forest as a child, said, "Inspired by the mysterious and mystical atmosphere of that place, I imagined adventures unfolding there and built a world of gods using Jeju's native deities. It's a Korean-style fantasy that the whole family can enjoy."■ Four Grand Prize Winners, from an 18-Year Corporate Employee to an Assistant DirectorThis year, four works were selected for the Grand Prize. The backgrounds of the winning writers were diverse, ranging from debut novelists to film crew members and an 18-year corporate employee.
First, Chaeheon, who debuted with the novel 'Haenyeodeul,' received the Grand Prize for her seventh full-length novel, 'Post-it Lady.' The story is a unique hero tale about an ordinary office assistant who comes to possess a 'Post-it that never falls off.'
She recalled the memorial space for the Sindang Station Stalking Murder Case, saying, "Each Post-it note contains feelings of sorrow, anger, comfort, and solidarity. The idea of an 'invincible Post-it' came from wishing that these notes would never fall off the perpetrator." Rather than being an episodic revenge drama like 'Taxi Driver,' the focus is on the growth of a timid female hero.
Amid rising interest in traditional culture following 'K-pop Demon Hunters,' Jieun Kiaer's 'Auctioneer Lee Seunghwa of Gyeongseong' stands out for its 1937 Gyeongseong setting and its focus on auctions.
Jieun Kiaer noted, "While there are many works set in Gyeongseong, this may be the first to put antique auctions at the forefront. The speculative and investment craze in Gyeongseong at the time resembles today's cryptocurrency and stock market fever, making it interesting to find connections between eras."
The story naturally weaves in real-life figures such as Jeon Hyeong-pil (Gansong) and O Se-chang (art name: Wichang), while fictional characters add emotion and entertainment.
Minsoo Kim, author of the mystery thriller 'Posthumous Execution,' is an 18-year corporate employee. In 2019, he began writing after enrolling in a screenwriting academy, wanting to acquire a new skill in life.
He said, "The phrase 'Posthumous Execution' struck me as so powerful that it stuck in my mind. When I looked up related records, I found that while the fact of someone being subjected to it remained, details about the actual procedures or who was involved were missing, which gave me room to let my imagination run wild."
The story is a mystery-adventure thriller following a group of four tasked by the king to carry out a posthumous execution.
Jang Eun-jun, who has worked as an assistant director on 'The Man Standing Next' and 'Handsome Guys,' won with 'Crocodile.' The story begins when mysterious crocodile traces are discovered in a new city stream. As people with various desires—including a police station chief, a zookeeper, and a variety show producer—gather, the story shifts from thriller to black comedy and farce.
Jang Eun-jun explained, "While the word 'crocodile' usually conjures up images of a predator in a swamp, in Chinese characters it also means 'words that can harm or do evil,' which reflects the symbolism in the work."
Meanwhile, the winning writers expressed satisfaction with the Business Matching Meeting, but also emphasized that "this award is not the end but the beginning," hoping for a mentoring system to help refine scripts and continued support through to completion.


jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-ah Reporter