The Corea Image Communication Institute is holding an essay contest on April 28 as part of effort to facilitate better communication among different generations, genders and social classes, the private non-profit group said on Thursday.

The institute is currently receiving essays and applications from Korean undergraduate and graduates students for the contest. Foreigners younger than age 35 can also enter the contest. The essays must be written in Korean.

“We wish to get creative ideas from participants on ways to have better communication between generations, genders and social classes,” CICI president Choi Jung-hwa told The Korea Herald.

The winner of the competition will get the opportunity to exchange his or her ideas with world renowned experts on culture and communications at the upcoming Culture Communication Forum, hosted by the institute on Sept. 4-6.

French sociologist Dominique Wolton and Vladimir Tolstoy, the great-great-grandson of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, both leading international figures on communications, will attend this year’s forum.

The annual CCF brings together international cultural figures for a series of discussions on Korean culture and ways of promoting it globally. Last year, 14 cultural leaders from 13 countries participated in the forum, experiencing diverse Korean culture and sharing their opinions on how to introduce it to the rest of the world.

Contest participants are asked to write a two-page essay or deliver their speech verbally through UCC on three different issues. The list of essay themes includes “Are social network services such as Twitter or Facebook breaking or building barriers between generations?”; “Where do Koreans find the most difficulty in communicating? What can we do in order to solve the problems in communication?”; and “What kind of Korean cultural assets (Korean food, hanbok, Hangeul, hanok, music and literature) can be used to better facilitate communication with people outside of the country?”

Participants are asked to submit their entries to the CICI office via e-mail at bureau@coreaimage.org or cici@coreaimage.org by April 16.

On April 23, the CICI office will announce the list of finalists who will then deliver their ideas in Korean on April 28.

The winner of the contest will receive a round-trip Asiana Airlines ticket to Europe and 2 million won ($1,800) in cash. The second prize winner will receive 2 million won while the third prize winner will receive 1 million won.

For more information, call (02) 424-0049 or visit www.coreaimage.org.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)