Korea opens AI video contest on regional growth engines

The industry ministry said Tuesday it will run an AI video contest inviting residents to imagine how South Korea's regional growth engines will change the places they live, with entries open from Oct. 6 to Nov. 13.

Competitors pick one of seven regions — the central, southwest, Daegu-Gyeongbuk, southeast, North Jeolla, Gangwon and Jeju areas — and depict, in a video of 30 seconds to two minutes, how the growth engine assigned to that region will transform local industry and the lives of residents. Entrants are encouraged to draw on each area's industrial base, resources, research capacity and infrastructure, and to show the change the engine will bring rather than simply introducing a technology or product.

Anyone living in Korea may enter individually or in a team of up to four, submitting an AI-generated mp4 video along with a project plan and a record of how AI was used. Formats are open: a vlog of a future day, a time-slip contrasting present and future, a web drama or a mockumentary.

The contest is part of a strategy to move beyond a Seoul-centred economy by developing four super-regions and three special self-governing provinces into self-sustaining economic zones with global competitiveness. Three to four strategic industries, or growth engines, were selected for each region, and the choices were announced at the 10th central-local cooperation meeting on Aug. 26.

Entries will be judged on six criteria: fit with the theme, creativity, use of AI, understanding of the policy, completeness, and popular appeal and spreadability. One top prize, one excellence prize and one encouragement prize will be awarded in each of the seven regions, for 21 winners in all.

The top prize carries 2 million won ($1,471) in Onnuri gift certificates, the excellence prize 1 million won ($736) and the encouragement prize 500,000 won ($368). Winning works will be used in a future integrated AI promotional video and shown nationwide at local festivals and expos.

Results will be announced on Nov. 30 after judging in November, with an awards ceremony scheduled for December. Applications are made through a dedicated page reached from the notice on the website of the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology or the URL and QR code on the contest poster.

"This contest is a chance for people to freely imagine the future of the region they live in and to draw together the picture of a Korea changed by its growth engines," said Park Dong-il, head of the ministry's industrial policy office. "I look forward to seeing diverse ideas about our regions' future using AI as a new creative tool."