International Youth Fellowship awarded grand prizes to three winners for its 18th English Speech Contest on Saturday.

The annual contest with it final round in Sejong Hall at Seoul Human Resources Development Center saw total participation of 1,315 middle school, high school and college students.

The middle school winner was Oh Sun-ah, a third-year student at Sesory Music Middle School. Park Sun-ae, a first-year student from Cheonan Ohseong High School, won the grand prize among high school students, while Kim Jong-sung, a sophomore from Keimyung University, was the college student winner.

“I was always afraid of being on stage and English. I was surprised to see that my English speech can make others laugh. From this experience, I learned that I can also speak English,” Park said.

Eighty-one participants -- 27 students from each school group -- passed regional rounds to advance to the national finals, IYF said.

“The speeches of the winners were different from other participants, carrying sincere messages, making me forget that I am a judge here,” one of the judges commented.

“The power to overcome difficulties is obtained when one works to go beyond their limits. Those who are with IYF will learn to be happy and will become the future leaders of Korea and the world,” IYF Chairman Park Moon-taek said.

(herim@heraldcorp.com)