Seoul's Dongdaemun-gu said Friday it won the excellence award in the local government category at the 2026 Korea Public PR Awards, held at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Sejong, for its district promotional video.
The Korea Public PR Awards is an annual ceremony established in 2015 by the Korean Academic Society for Public Relations, chaired by Lee Se-jin, with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It was created to identify outstanding public relations cases that strengthen communication in the public sector and help spread social value.
Now in its 12th year, the competition draws entries from government ministries, public institutions, local governments and private companies, all vying to showcase their public communication achievements over the past year. Winners are selected through rigorous judging by academic experts in advertising and public relations.
Dongdaemun-gu's win was particularly notable because, unlike most participating organizations that produce their entries with professional advertising agencies, the district's civil servants created the video entirely in-house with no budget. Promotional videos of this kind typically cost tens of millions of won when outsourced. Instead, public relations staff at the district office handled every stage — planning, filming and editing — over several months, making it a standout example of proactive administration through cost savings.
The winning video, "Connecting People and Spaces, Singing of Dongdaemun," drew attention not only for how it was made but also for its creative approach. To overcome the limitations of conventional local government videos — which tend to be dry lists of information with little immersive appeal — the production placed fusion gugak, a blend of traditional Korean music and contemporary styles, at its center.
Cheonchun Gongbang, a local youth fusion gugak band, participated through a talent donation and provided an original composition for the video. Set to the band's dynamic gugak rhythms, footage of residents' daily lives — mornings in Cheongnyangni, afternoons at Gyeongdong Market and evening festivals in Dongdaemun — was cross-edited at a brisk pace to maximize the visual impact.
Since its release, the video has logged about 47,000 views and has been screened at major Seoul Metropolitan Government events as well as at international exchange events in Taiwan and sister-city ceremonies, steadily expanding its reach.
Dongdaemun-gu District Mayor Choi Dong-min said the recognition carried special meaning because "it was made not with budget, but with the power of people." He added: "Dongdaemun-gu is a place where the vitality of youth is layered on top of a long history and tradition, and we will work hard to share the district's diverse charms with as many people as possible."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
