By Honorary Reporter Mennatallah Hussein Elsayed from Egypt
Photos = Sadulla Ibragimov  

Quiz On Korea is an annual contest organized by the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and KBS targeting foreign fans of Korean culture who can speak Korean. The event tests knowledge of Korea including history, economy, language and culture.

The preliminaries are held in select countries and those who advance are flown to Korea to represent their respective homelands in the finals.

Sadulla Ibragimov from Uzbekistan was crowned this year's winner, and I decided to interview him to hear more about and how to apply for the event. The following are excerpts from our email message on Nov. 6.

Sadulla Ibragimov from Uzbekistan on Oct. 11 receives the grand prize of Quiz on Korea from Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin at KBS Studios in Seoul.

Briefly introduce yourself.

My name is Ibragimov Sadulla, 30, from Uzbekistan. I am a project coordinator at the Korea  Foundation under a fellowship program.

Why did you learn Korean?

I started learning Korean in 2007 after entering my foreign-language high school. I chose the language because I watched Korean dramas like "Winter Sonata" and "Jumong." From 2008-12, I attended a Korean-language center in Tashkent. 

In 2014, I received a Korean government scholarship to study in Korea and moved there to attend university. The scholarship requires study of Korean for one year before starting a degree program. So I studied at Sunmoon University for one year and then transferred to Kyung Hee University for my bachelor's. Even now, I try to upgrade my Korean skills because I have to use it at the office daily. 

Describe your win.

I was shocked and didn't expect to beat the other 118 competitors, most of them students. I thought students would have more knowledge and drive to win but reality showed otherwise. When they gave us questions about Korean history, language and culture, most of the students couldn't answer. 

The last question was about the traditional game ddakji (folded paper tiles), which was so easy for me but not for the other two finalists. To prepare for the finals, I watched almost all episodes from last year's tournament to know what to expect in the final stage. 

The winner takes a group photo with his fellow competitors on Aug. 30 in front of the KBS building in Seoul on their second day in Korea for rehearsals.

What was the atmosphere like in the event's final stage?
It was fantastic. We had 21 participants from all over the world from Canada and New Zealand to China, Malaysia, Sweden, Mongolia and Egypt.

Embarrassingly, I couldn't answer a few easy questions like what to formally call an ajumma (older lady). The correct answer was ajumonim but I said imonim (aunt). I thought I would drop out of the first round but I correctly answered the final question about Korean history.

The second round was difficult because points were deducted for wrong answers. I got the highest score in the round along with a Thai competitor and a Kazak woman was the third and last finalist. We all got highly difficult questions that we mostly got wrong but I ended up winning because I got one answer right.

What is your advice to those who want to compete next year?
Try to learn everything you can about Korean culture, history or language. You don't know what questions will be prepared so knowing everything you can about Korea can lead you toward the winning path.

kalhong617@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.