The most-read story by an Honorary Reporter in the first week of October was an Arabic-language interview by Khada Mohamed Ali from Egypt and Mariam Qazbr from Morocco with the grand prize winner of the "Photography Contest: Hangeul I Met" hosted by the National Hangeul Museum of Korea. (Arabic-language section of Korea.net)

By Hong Kilju

An Arabic-language story by Khada Mohamed Ali from Egypt and Mariam Qazbr from Morocco was No. 1 in the first week of October among articles by Honorary Reporters. 

The interview was with Nesma Ahmed Mohamed Elmously, the Egyptian grand prize winner of the "Photography Contest: Hangeul I Met" hosted by the National Hangeul Museum of Korea.  

No. 2 in the rankings was a Vietnamese-language piece on the neighborhood where the Korean drama "Itaewon Class" was filmed, followed by another in Vietnamese, one in Japanese and one in French.

■ Interview with grand prize winner of first 'Photography Contest: Hangeul I Met' hosted by National Hangeul Museum (Khada Mohamed Ali from Egypt and Mariam Qazbr from Morocco in Arabic)

On Sept. 27, the museum announced the winning works of the contest from 3,414 entries submitted by an estimated 1,300 people from 70 countries, with Elmously earning the top honor.  

An art teacher, the winner said she had never formally learned photography before and that her photo was simply a selfie taken by a smartphone. The contest's judges said her photo vividly depicted the beauty of Hangeul used in everyday life and that the mask she wore made a strong impression through reflecting the COVID-19 era. 

"I looked for uncommon props with Hangeul designs. In the end, the Hangeul-inscribed scarf was the best prop I could prepare." Elmously said.

The winning photos will be displayed through Nov. 30 at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

The grand prize winner of the National Hangeul Museum's "Photography Contest: Hangeul I Met" this year was an Egyptian art teacher. (Nesma Ahmed Mohamed Elmously)

■ Visiting where the K-drama 'Itaewon Class' was filmed (Le Phuong Anh from Vietnam in Vietnamese)

No. 2 was an article on the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul where the hit Korean drama "Itaewon Class" was filmed. Le Phuong Anh shared her homestay experience near the area during her visit to Korea, calling Itaewon "one of the busiest and liveliest places in Seoul." 

On getting to danbam pocha, or street food kiosks that appeared frequently on the drama, she advised wearing comfortable shoes instead of high heels because of the steep path next to Noksapyeong Station that people must climb.

This path often appears in the K-drama "Itaewon Class." (Le Phuong Anh)

Third place went to Dao Manh Nghia's article on the summit between President Moon Jae-in and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly in New York. 

On the 1.1 million vaccine doses Korea pledged to Vietnam, Dao said, "It's very timely support given the circumstances," adding, "Friendship between the two countries will be further strengthened." He added that he expects bilateral ties to soon be elevated from a "strategic cooperation partnership" to a "comprehensive strategic alliance."

■ 'Squid Game,' Korea's hottest drama (Kimiko Murayama from Japan in Japanese)

"Squid Game," which has topped the Netflix charts in 90 countries since its release on Sept. 17, is understandably a hot topic among Honorary Reporters. Kimiko Murayama's review not only covers the plot but also the director's insight into the creation of his work and its main characters. She said the series reflects society's prevalent culture of competition and the widening gap between rich and poor. 

"We might've all played the six games in the drama when we were young, and such simple rules must've played a role in 'Squid Game' gaining explosive popularity around the world," she said.

Rounding out the top five was an interview with six Honorary Reporters by Eftychia Dovletoglou from Greece on how they grew attracted to Hallyu. The writer also gave her own opinions. Nathalie Fisz from France said her attraction to Korean culture began after meeting her daughter's Korean friend. 

Dovletoglou is a writer in Greece who writes novels related to Korea. Her fourth novel will soon be published.

Eftychia Dovletoglou from Greece interviewed six fellow Honorary Reporters on how they grew interested in Hallyu.

Sixth to 10th on the list are below.

6. Trying to play ddakji-chigi from 'Squid Game' (Duygu Ozturan from Germany in German)

7. Traveling Korea with Honorary Reporters! [19]: Hiking on Seoraksan Mountain (Soha Saeed from Egypt in Arabic)

8. Jikji: the start of a revolution in printing technology (Laura Manseau from France in French)

9. How personality is linked to blood type in Korea (Ekaterina Syrnikova from Russia in Russian)

10. Korean workplace culture (Karina Khachatryan from Russia in Russian)