Open to all Koreans through Sunday; top prize 500,000 won, total purse 1.5 million won
The city of Paju is holding a naming contest for its "Paju Mutual-Growth Economy Platform," a citizen-led digital economic platform, with submissions accepted through Sunday.
The platform is conceived as something beyond a conventional local-government-run online shopping mall. Built around Paju Pay, the city's local currency, it combines an online cooperative marketplace with a civic community structure in which residents create, share and collectively shape content. The project's core goal is to build a locally self-sustaining ecosystem in which citizens become active participants rather than passive consumers, and local businesses become partners in growth.
The city organized the contest to find a name that captures the platform's identity and symbolism, with the aim of raising brand recognition and positioning it as a platform built together by local businesses and residents.
The contest is open to anyone in South Korea. Interested participants can submit an entry form through the Paju city government website or by scanning the QR code on contest promotional materials.
Entries will be evaluated on five criteria: appeal (ease of pronunciation), intuitiveness (reflection of the platform's values and purpose), scalability (versatility as services expand), distinctiveness (commercial sensibility and alignment with current trends), and design compatibility (suitability for brand design applications).
Submissions will first be reviewed by city departments and narrowed to 30 entries, then reduced to 15 through a public preference survey. The remaining entries will undergo copyright verification before a final round of judging, with 10 winning names to be announced Sept. 30.
Prize money will be paid in Paju Pay, the city's local currency. One grand prize winner will receive 500,000 won ($362), two excellence award winners will each receive 250,000 won, three merit award winners will each receive 100,000 won, and four encouragement award winners will each receive 50,000 won. The selected name will become the platform's official title.
"This is a project we have long deliberated over and pursued to build a practical, self-sustaining local economy completed through citizen participation," Paju Mayor Son Bae-chan said. "We organized this contest to find a name that will be cherished for years to come, through fresh and creative ideas from our residents. We hope many citizens will take an interest and take part."
Meanwhile, the city plans to wrap up the process of selecting a contractor for the platform's development by early September and move forward with building the infrastructure in earnest, with a pilot launch targeted for April next year.
pjh@heraldcorp.com
