Air Force wins 9th annual Korean language competition Published Jan. 3, 2022 By Senior Airman Nicole Molignano Seventh Air Force Public Affairs USAG CAMP HUMPHREYS, Republic of Korea -- Eight 303rd Intelligence Squadron Airmen recently competed in, and won, the 9th annual Korean language competition hosted by the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade at U.S. Army Garrison Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea. The Airmen were divided into four two-person teams and competed against eight Army teams. The Air Force took home nine of the 12 medals and won overall. The competition tests Soldiers and Airmen on their knowledge of Korean culture and language. It also serves as a conduit for building the ROK and U.S. alliance, as ROK military and Korean Augmentees to the United States Army (KATUSA) ran several of the competitions. “It’s exciting to see so many American military members learning Korean,” said Corporal Park Sang-jun, 501st Military Intelligence Brigade human resources specialist, who was amongst the many KATUSAs who helped out with the event.. “The soldiers I work with are always willing to help me learn English, and now I have an opportunity to help them learn Korean.” In order to make it fair, participants were required to pass a linguist test prior to the event, and their team could not comprise solely of members who were native speakers. Contests throughout the day included impromptu speeches, vocabulary duals and a Jeopardy-style game featuring trivia on world history, language, literature, the arts, the sciences, popular culture and geography. Participants were graded on their proficiency and accuracy, and at the end of each event, points were tallied and calculated determining the overall winners. “The 501st Military Intelligence Brigade’s language competition is our linguists’ chance to show off their skills they have mastered throughout their career,” said Tech. Sgt. Hope Koo, 303rd Intelligence Squadron command language program manager. “Not only is it competitively rewarding, it also builds camaraderie between our own linguists through team-based events.”