“CICI Korea 2019 Korea Image Award”, organized by CICI, celebrated its 15th anniversary on January 10. The event gathered much attention even before the event actually took place.

Around 600 people, including Korean and foreign opinion leaders and diplomatic envoys, enlightened the event with their presence.

A photo time took place with Choi Jungwha, president of CICI, the Korea Image awardees, H.E. Han Seung-soo, former Prime Minister, Sohn Kyung-shik, Chairman of CJ Group, Kim Taehoon, Director of the Korean Culture and Information Service, Bahk Sahnghoon, Ambassador Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy, In Chul Kim, President of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Kim Dong-ho, President of Dongdaemun Future Foundation, H.E. Yasumasa Nagamine, Japanese Ambassador, H.E. Stephan Auer, German Ambassador, H.E. Andrey Kulik, Russian Ambassador, H.E. Yip Wei Kiat, Singaporean Ambassador, H.E. Mózes Csoma, Hungarian Ambassador, Ahn Sung-gi, Korean Actor, and Didier Beltoise, president of Cs.

CICI Korea 2019 commenced and the participants gathered at the reception place welcoming each other.

CICI Korea 2019 started with the screening of ‘The Culture that is taking over the world, K-Pop’.

The president of CICI Choi Jungwha then delivered a greeting message to the guests, followed by congratulatory remarks given by former Prime Minister H.E. Han Seung-soo, and H.E. Yip Wei Kiat, Singaporean Ambassador.

After all the celebratory messages, the Korea Image Award ceremony that everyone had been waiting for took place.

The Korea Image Stepping Stone Award went to ‘Korean Language’ that is acting as an advance guard for spreading the essence of Korean culture.

On behalf of ‘Korean Language’, John＆Mack brothers from TV quiz program well known as geniuses in Korean Language received the award.

The Korea Image Stepping Stone Bridge Award was given to YouTubers ‘Korean Englishman’ Josh＆Ollie who are introducing Korean culture through their YouTube videos in a witty way, gaining more than 3 million subscribers around the world. 

Lastly, the Korea Image Flower Stone Award was given to Ballerina Sae-eun Park, who received Benois de la Danse, the highest honor in the ballet world for her excellent performance, gaining tremendous attention from the ballet scene and media.

Before starting dinner, Sohn Kyung-shik, Chairman of CJ Group, H.E. Mózes Csoma, Hungarian Ambassador, Kim Taehoon, Director General of the Korean Culture and Information Service, Bahk Sahnghoon, Ambassador for Public Diplomacy, proposed toasts to congratulate CICI Korea 2019.

A fantastic contemporary Korean dinner was prepared for CICI KOREA 2019.

While enjoying dinner, the auction and lucky draw took place with auctioneer Joseph Young, Representative Director of Bureau Veritas Korea.

Congratulations again to all the winners!

Towards the end of dinner, Kang Byung In’s special Calligraphy performance to the song ‘Spring Day’ by BTS was presented. Everyone gave a round of applause to the performance presented by the song that gave a feeling of warmth wishing for spring day to come.

 

The last stage was filled by String Ensemble ‘Joy of Strings’ led by professor Sung-Ju Lee. The Ensemble dazzled the audience  their performance of <Happy, Happy New Year Op. 151a> composed by Han-Ki Kim that gave a sense of hope and anticipation of New Year and <Liebesfreud> and <Libesleid> composed by Fritz Kreisler that touched emotions of the participants deeply.

The vivid scene of CICI Korea 2019 spread to many people through press release and SNS, and we have tried our best to share the joy and unforgettable moments with everyone.

We would like to thank everyone for making the event more splendid, and we promise we will do our best to further promote Korea’s positive image to the rest of the world.

Thanks to your support and interest, we’ll be preparing for next year’s CICI Korea 2020 to be a fulfilling and exciting event.

Thank you very much.