This year’s competition drew attention for its innovative format: instead of the traditional memorized presentations, participants were asked to respond to spontaneous questions on the spot. This new approach aimed to comprehensively evaluate not only their practical Korean language skills but also their logical thinking and understanding of Korean culture.

Ten finalists competed in the main round. Although they prepared based on broadly announced topics in advance, during the event they were asked a variety of impromptu questions and given about one minute to respond freely. Through this, their reasoning ability, critical thinking, expressiveness, and real-life communication skills in Korean were directly assessed.

Notably, the competition was designed so that even participants who had never met Koreans in person could answer based on their experiences with online interactions, media, and cultural activities, making the event widely accessible. Despite the tension, participants naturally shared their own experiences and opinions.

The organizers evaluated that the competition served as an opportunity for learners to improve their Korean proficiency, deepen their understanding of Korean culture, and enhance communication among learners from diverse cultural backgrounds.