Dancer Kim Hee-sun of the Korean National Ballet has won the top honor at the eighth Helsinki International Ballet Competition.
 
According to the final results announced on the competition's Web site on Friday, Kim won the Jane Erkko Grand Prix in the senior women’s category. The top award worth 15-thousand euros is handed to women between the ages of 20 and 25.
 
The 24-year-old is the first South Korean female ballet dancer to win the top prize. A graduate of the Korean National University of Arts, Kim joined the national ballet troupe last year.
 
Founded in 1984, the Helsinki International Ballet Competition is held every four or six years. This year’s event was held from May 23rd to Thursday.
 
Until now, Hwang Hye-min, principal dancer of the Universal Ballet, was the sole South Korean dancer who won an honor at the Finnish competition. She received second prize in the senior women’s section at the fourth competition in 2001. There was no first place winner chosen that year.