Anchor: Foreigners and ethnic Koreans boasted their Korean fluency in an oratorical contest held in Thailand over the weekend. 
KBS checked out the event. Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
 
Report: A young Mongolian college student stands on a podium and delivers a speech in fluent Korean, stressing the need to avoid slang terms and abbreviations.
 
[Sound bite: Gambileg Turtogtokh - student International University of Ulaanbaatar (Korean)]
"한국인들은 세종대왕이 처음에 한글을 만들 때 어떤 마음으로 만들었는지 다시 생각해야 합니다!"
 
He argues that South Koreans must ask themselves why King Sejong the Great invented Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, in the first place.

Izumi Hatano, who runs a Korean language institute in Japan, has demonstrated that a foreigner can be as much of an eloquent speaker in the Korean language as a Korean national.  

[Sound bite:  Izumi Hatano - Korean language class operator in Japan (Korean)]
 "한일 양국의 문화전도사가 되었음을 자랑스럽게 생각합니다." 
 
She proudly claims to have become a cultural ambassador between her country and South Korea.
 
Those in the audience cheered for the participants.
 
A total of 49 people from 17 countries competed in the 21st World Korean Speech Contest held in Thailand on Saturday.

The speech contest, organized by the Korean Orators Association, is held every year and covers a plethora of subjects.

Participants, including foreigners and ethnic Koreans, were able to once again show off their Korean language skills in this year's contest, talking about the remarkable aspects of the Korean language and culture and about peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.