Global enthusiasm for Korea is hotter than ever.

The Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), an arm of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and publisher of Korea.net, held its "Fall in Love With Korea" contest, jointly with KBS World, from July to October this year. It asked for readers worldwide to submit their self-generated content that showed just how much they truly, "loved Korea."

KOCIS received a total of 7,721 entries covering videos, photos and online comic strips, with content coming in from 43 countries and territories spanning Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas and other parts of the world. From Palau in the South Pacific, to Niger in Central Africa, to tiny Andorra in Europe, to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, and even from such strife-torn regions as Syria, Palestine and Ukraine, interest in all things Korean is at an all-time high.

The grand prize winner in the video segment is Leire Lizarraga from Spain, whose video depicts a detailed coming-of-age story, a sensible structure and an honest narrative. It stood out, showing her love and care for Korea.

Winners told of their genuine experiences as they got familiar with Korea. Spain's Leire Lizarraga stood out by showing her ties with the Korean language and with taekwondo. She drew cartoon figures in a sped-up video. Studying taekwondo gave her a boost in self-confidence and Korean pop music and soap operas both also helped her take a positive and proactive approach to her life.

Andrei Renzolugtu of the Philippines was once shy, with low self-esteem due to acne troubles. He studied men's style, grooming and fashion tips trough the Korean version of the TV show "Boys Over Flowers." As a result, he re-gained his health, became quite popular and, for him, this all served as a life-changing turning point.

The grand prize winner in the photography category is submitted by Jello Aguaras from Palau.

Grand prize winner in the online comic segment is submitted by Andrei Renzolugtu of the Philippines. He explains how Korea-style grooming helped him regain his self-confidence.

Six grand prize winners in each category will be invited to Seoul on December 24 for a five-day trip to experience the country first-hand, where they will attend the KBS year-end music awards.

One of the judges, Eva Popiel, a TV personality from the U.K., said, "Although the videos were great, the online comics had a high quality and required a lot of effort. I knew that there were a lot of K-Pop fans, but their general interest in Korea was surprising."

The prize-winning entries can be seen at Korea.net (www.korea.net/Resources/Multimedia/UCC).

By Wi Tack-whan, Paik Hyun
Korea.net Staff Writers
whan23@korea.kr