Balletino Sung Jae-seung. EPA=Yonhap News
Ballet dancer Sung Jae-seung has won the top prize at the 10th Helsinki International Ballet Competition (HIBC).
According to the competition’s official website Wednesday, Sung received the “Jane Erkko Grand Prix” at the competition, which closed Thursday at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. The prize carries an award of 20,000 euros (about 36 million won). The Helsinki International Ballet Competition was founded under the leadership of Finnish ballerina Doris Laine Almi and has been held since 1984.
Sung, who is studying in the practical arts department at the School of Dance of the Korea National University of Arts, last year won first place in the senior pas de deux category alongside ballerina So Ha-eun at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in the United States, and took second place in the senior men’s solo category.