Wonju City Selects 55 Scholarship Recipients for "Connecting Dreams: Young Artist" Program

Korea National Park Service and Guittturami Cultural Foundation
Total Sponsorship of 55 Million Won
Discovering Promising Talents in Arts and Sports
Long-term Support Up to High School Graduation

Wonju City in Gangwon Province is promoting the "Connecting Dreams: Young Artist Scholarship Support" program to systematically identify and nurture promising local talents in arts and sports, and will select a total of 55 scholarship recipients.

View of Wonju City Hall. Provided by Wonju City.

This program has been prepared with support from Korea National Park Service and the Guittturami Cultural Foundation, and will be operated with a total budget of 55 million won.

Korea National Park Service will provide long-term support to five middle school students by offering 1 million won per year until they graduate from high school, helping their continuous growth. The Guittturami Cultural Foundation plans to provide scholarships of 1 million won each to 20 middle school students and 1 million won each to 30 high school students so that local youth can continue to develop their talents.

Long-term and one-year sponsorship candidates will be evaluated using the same criteria, but those with higher scores will be given priority in being selected as long-term sponsorship recipients. Through this, the city plans to continuously support talents with high growth potential in the fields of arts and sports.

Eligible applicants are citizens who, as of the announcement date, have had their resident registration in Wonju City and have actually resided there for at least one year, or their children. Applicants must have placed within the top three in an individual arts or sports event within the past two years. Evaluation will be conducted through document screening based on awards history (80 points), length of residence (15 points), and recommendation from the school principal (5 points).

In the case of team events in the sports category, considering the limitations of applying the same scoring system, separate recipients of one-year sponsorship (up to five in 2026) will be selected upon recommendation by the Wonju City Sports Council.

The application period runs until March 4, and applications can be submitted in person or by mail. The final recipients will be individually notified on March 13.

Students selected as scholarship recipients must attend the scholarship award ceremony to be held at 10:00 a.m. on March 17. At the event, the sponsoring organizations will personally present the scholarships and take time to encourage the students' growth.

Meanwhile, Wonju City will be responsible for selecting and managing the scholarship students and plans to establish a local talent development model in which public institutions and private foundations cooperate. Through this, the city intends to provide phased support for promising talents in arts and sports and to build a sustainable support system.

A representative of Korea National Park Service said, "As a public institution that grows together with the local community, we are honored to be able to support the potential of future generations," adding, "We will continue to pay close attention so that students do not give up on their dreams and can keep challenging themselves."

A representative of the Guittturami Cultural Foundation said, "We are very pleased to be able to support local youth who are nurturing their dreams in the fields of arts and sports," and added, "We hope that this scholarship support will serve as an opportunity for students to demonstrate their talents and grow to the next level."