South Korea's national film body invites public submissions to rebrand its flagship publication ahead of a major digital overhaul

The Korean Film Council (KOFIC, Chair Han Sang-jun) has announced a public naming contest for its official web magazine, currently titled Korean Film, marking the first step in a broader editorial and digital relaunch planned for 2025.

Submissions are open from Tuesday, March 3 through Thursday, March 12, with the winning name to be announced on March 31. The contest is open to all readers of the web magazine.

The existing title, Korean Film, has long functioned more as a generic descriptor than a distinctive brand identity. KOFIC cites two key limitations: the title's poor searchability on major Korean web portals, and its inability to differentiate the publication from other commercial film magazines in the market. As the sole institutional journal dedicated exclusively to Korean cinema, KOFIC aims to use the renaming as an opportunity to assert a clearer editorial identity and sharpen the magazine's competitive profile.

The contest brief calls for submissions that are "distinct from other publications while embodying the identity of KOFIC as an institutional journal." Participants are asked to propose both a name and a rationale for their submission.

Selected winners will receive complimentary cinema tickets: 10 tickets for first place, 6 for second, and 4 for third — a total of 20 tickets distributed across the three recipients.

The renaming contest is the opening move in a more substantial institutional refresh. KOFIC has confirmed that the web magazine's homepage will undergo a full redesign in June, with the newly selected name to be incorporated into the site's branding and logo design.

A KOFIC spokesperson described the initiative as an effort to "rekindle reader engagement and broadly signal the start of a new chapter for the publication," expressing hope for wide participation from the Korean film community.

Contest details are available via the KOFIC official website, the web magazine's homepage, and its official Instagram account.