A Seoul-based NGO dedicated to raising awareness of heritage among ethnic Koreans living abroad held an awards ceremony on Wednesday at the National Assembly for a recent international essay contest.

Over 100 children from nine countries participated in the World Peace Sharing Foundation’s 2013 Global Children Festival writing contest, which had “Sharing and Peace” as this year’s essay theme.

The grand prize was awarded to Sikkim Bichel, a student at The French School of Seoul, who wrote about France’s aid to Korea during the Korean War. Rora Oh from Yeongdeungpo Middle School and Samuel Jeon from the elementary school affiliated with the Russian Embassy in Korea were each awarded the Gold Prize.

Descendants of Korean War veterans also participated in the contest, such as Margot, Romane and Johan Pouvesle, who are the grandchildren of former French Army Col. Philippe Pouvesle, who fought with U.N. forces during the Korean War.

The Global Children Festival continues until the end of this month, with 36 children scheduled to visit Dokdo on Friday. A “tteok,” or Korean rice cake, cooking session followed Wednesday’s ceremony.

The World Peace Sharing Foundation will use funds earned from this year’s festivities to send six students to the U.N. headquarters in New York City and meet Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in May 2014.

By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)