South Koreans have won first prizes in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in the categories of violin, cello and voice.

According to the website of the competition on Friday, Kim Gye-hee and Lee Young-eun grabbed the gold medals in violin and cello, respectively, while tenor Son Ji-hoon was named the winner of the men’s voice category, sharing the honor with Russia’s Zinaida Tsarenko in women’s voice.

It marks the first time that South Koreans won in the competition's instrumental music categories.

Founded in Russia in 1958, the International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition in which musicians aged 16 to 32 compete in six categories: piano, violin, cello, voice, brass and woodwind.

It is considered one of the most respected music competitions in the world, although its reputation has suffered after its exclusion from the World Federation of International Music Competitions in April 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.