Mohamed Hosseifa (19) won the grand prize (1st place) in the foreigner category newly established to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the ‘Kyobo Handwriting Contest’ hosted by the Handwriting Culture Promotion Committee and co-hosted by Kyobo Bookstore, Daesan Cultural Foundation, and Kyobo Life Insurance. ) is an Egyptian living in Incheon. He is also a high school senior who dreams of entering the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy. The work that he submitted while studying for exams was a will that Ahn Jung-geun left in Lushun Prison in China. This article was published in the Daehan Maeil Shinbo dated March 25, 1910, under the title ‘A shout out to our compatriots.’ I met Mohammed ahead of the awards ceremony held at Kyobo Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 11th.
“I found my own handwriting through participating in handwriting competitions, but these days, I’m practicing copying other people’s handwriting. It made me imagine what that person was thinking as he wrote it. I think it’s a way to understand the other person. “Handwriting contains a person’s thoughts and soul.”
About 400 people from 35 countries participated in the foreigner category, which was held for the first time this year. In a screening in which 19 people participated, Mohammed was unanimously selected as the winner. Poet Shin Dal-ja (81), who chaired the judging panel, said, “It’s amazing. “It feels sophisticated and rhythmic,” he said. “To be able to express the beauty of Hangul to this extent, it seems like you have to understand Korea this much. “I feel grateful,” he commented.
Dr. Ahn Jung-geun is a person that Mohammed respects. Mohammed said, “I respect Dr. Ahn Jung-geun’s firm beliefs.” The first time I learned about Dr. Ahn was while learning about the Harbin Uprising in Korean history class in my first year of high school in 2022. He searched for and read the trial observation record, and when he read the letter his mother, Mrs. Jo Maria, sent to Dr. Ahn, he said he felt like “he was like that mother and that son.” Then, I came across ‘A Shoutout to My Compatriots’ in Ahn Jung-geun’s collection of ink and calligraphy.
In his acceptance speech, Mohammed said, “I wrote this in the hope of freedom and liberation for the Palestinian people, who have been oppressed and had their land stolen for 76 years.” It is said that he decided to participate in the competition because he wanted to inform Korea of the suffering of the Palestinian people. After the war broke out in the Gaza Strip, Palestine in October last year, Mohammed’s army has been exposed to the horrors of the war through social media. He said, “As Israel’s massacre in Gaza continued for more than a year, more than 42,000 people were killed, 70% of whom were children and women.”
“As an Arab living in Korea and as an Egyptian, I know that Koreans have a lot of prejudice against Arab and Islamic countries. However, both sides have something in common: they suffered from imperialist colonial rule. I wanted to talk about the Palestinian issue through Ahn Jung-geun’s ‘Shoutout to My Compatriots’ because I thought we could understand each other better through commonalities. “I wish more people would sympathize with the Palestinian people amidst the silence of the international community.”
On this day, he was wearing a ‘keffiyeh’ (traditional bandana for Middle Eastern men) with a black check pattern on a white background, wrapped around his shoulders. The black checkered keffiyeh is traditionally worn by many Palestinian men, so it is also considered an item symbolizing the resistance of the Palestinian people.
The reason he wants to become a diplomat is because he wants to become a conduit connecting the Arab world and Korea. Why do Korea and the Arab world, which are so far apart physically, need to know and understand each other better? Mohammed emphasized ‘love for humanity.’ “Wouldn’t we be able to see a better world if people understood and empathized with each other without discrimination based on religion, race, gender, etc.?”
He set foot on Korean soil in 2018. It happened when I was 13 years old. Mohammed’s family came to Korea to escape political persecution. It is said that his father was involved in anti-dictatorship activities and moved often. Even though they stayed in the country or neighboring countries, the political environment in Egypt continued to worsen. President Abdul Fattah Sisi, who led the coup in 2013, took power the following year and was re-elected in 2018. Eventually, his family left Egypt. President Sisi is still in power.
Mohammed, who came to Korea at the age of 13, experienced Korean elementary, middle, and high schools. Immediately after entering the country, I learned Korean language and culture at Hannuri School in Incheon for 6 months and then transferred to a regular elementary school. Although his Korean wasn’t good at the time, he became close with his friends while playing soccer at lunchtime. It was a time when he missed the teacher’s words and was not without difficulties, but he said, “It was okay because I always had good friends by my side.”
Korea became Mohammed’s second home. In 2021, they were finally recognized as refugees. At school, he was elected class president and lives a busy life participating in student council and club activities. They say that when they are with their friends, they do not feel like they are foreigners.
He also speaks Korean very fluently. During the interview, he casually said, “Please feel free to call me by my first name, Joseifa,” but when asked about his thoughts, he answered in sentences that seemed to be written in a written language. He says he likes news and political books. “It seems like my friends don’t like abstract things,” he said, so he joined a newspaper reading club and a legal politics club instead.
The winning works will be displayed at Kyobo Bookstore Gwanghwamun branch until the 30th of this month. It can also be found on the Kyobo Bookstore website. This year, 44,993 people applied in the children, youth, general, and foreign categories, and 11 first prize winners and 23 second prize winners were selected through preliminary and final screening and customer voting.
The Kyobo Handwriting Contest has been held since 2015 to shed new light on the social and cultural value of handwriting and encourage various handwriting activities. It is hosted by the Handwriting Culture Promotion Committee and co-hosted by Kyobo Book Center, Daesan Cultural Foundation, and Kyobo Life Insurance.