1. The Preparatory Secretariat for Seoul Conference on Cyberspace 2013 announced the result of the Global Essay Competition for the Youth Forum, a side event for the Conference slated for October 17 and 18.

* The participants were to submit essays on one of the three topics -- economic growth and social and cultural benefits; cybersecurity; and capacity building -- between June 1 and July 12, 2013.

2.  Competition drew 297 essays from 54 countries, from which nine essays – one first-place winner, two second-place winners, three third-place winners and three runners-up -- were chosen.

* The winners will be contacted individually. For further details about the result, visit the Seoul Conference website at www.seoulcyber2013.kr and its facebook page at www.facebook.com/seoulcyber2013 as well as the website of the Korea Information Society Development Institute at www.kisdi.re.kr.

3. The awards ceremony will take place at the Center for International Studies of Yonsei University on September 2. The winners will be entitled to participate in the Youth Form as panelists.

* The three top teams will also be offered an opportunity to take part in the Seoul Conference in October.

4. Out of 297 entries, 226, or 76%, came from a total of 54 countries, including Bangladesh, Nigeria, Indonesia, China and the US, which demonstrates the keen interest of global youth on the Conference on Cyberspace as well as cyber issues.

5. The essays submitted to the Competition contained a number of government policy ideas in a wide range of cyberspace-related fields, including economy, society, culture, politics (human rights), crimes, national security and capacity building. The ideas are original and have apparently been conceived through profound study.

* Please visit the Seoul Conference website for the contents of the winning essays.

6. The Global Essay Competition was held to offer global youth an opportunity to have their original ideas reflected in policy-making process related to cyber issues and in the hope that they will play an active role in the field.


                    Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation