Ulsan Nam-gu (Mayor Dong-wook Seo) held the awards ceremony for the “Oehwang River Historical and Cultural Zone Novel Contest (Oehwanggang River Literature Prize)” in the grand auditorium on the 6th floor on the 15th, selecting Author Gang Dong-su’s Cheoyong’s Sea as the winning entry.

The Oehwang River Literature Prize was planned to reinterpret the historical and cultural significance of the Oehwanggang River through fiction and expand the region’s identity into literary content. It drew significant attention from the national literary circle for offering KRW 100 million in prize money, the highest level among literature prizes organized by local governments in Korea.

In this contest, established authors from across the country participated, with a total of 53 novels submitted. After preliminary and final rounds of judging, one piece was selected as the final winner.

The judging panel consisted of five members, including novelists
Park Deok-gyu, Eun Hui-kyeong, Kim Byeol-ah, and Jeong Myeong-seop, as well as literary critic Professor Cho Kang-sok. The evaluation was based on criteria such as literary merit, narrative completeness, and the utilization of Oehwanggang River’s history and culture.

The winning work, Cheoyong’s Sea, was evaluated as a masterpiece that balances literary value, completeness, and regionality by three-dimensionally reinterpreting the history, regional identity, and legends of the Oehwanggang River and Jangsaengpo Port.
In his acceptance speech, Author Gang Dong-su stated, “I wanted to newly depict the memories of Ulsan’s sea and Oehwanggang River, and the lives of the people,” adding, “I felt that stories held by a region could expand into important narratives in Korean literature.”

The ceremony was attended by approximately 100 people, including literary figures, local artists, and citizens, showing high interest in the Oehwanggang River Literature Prize. A ‘meet the author’ session was also held.

Nam-gu plans to publish the winning work Cheoyong’s Sea in the first half of 2026 and actively develop the Oehwanggang River cultural brand by promoting book concerts, book review contests, and literary performances.

Mayor Dong-wook Seo stated in his congratulatory speech, “I hope this contest, which revived the deep history of Oehwanggang River and the narrative of Ulsan’s sea through literature, will serve as a starting point for expanding the future value of the local cultural industry,” and added, “We will continue to foster cultural brand projects that combine culture, arts, and tourism.”