Yes, everyday photographs taken on a mobile phone can be entered in the photo category of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's (KDCA) 2026 rare-disease essay and photo contest. The announcement accepts entries October 19–November 18, 2026. It does not specify the final day's closing hour, so do not assume that an email arriving at any particular time will count.
Who can enter, and what counts as a photo entry?
The contest is for patients with nationally designated rare diseases and their families, including parents, spouses, siblings and children. Verify the disease designation through the official Rare Disease Helpline and the actual entry form. There are two categories, personal accounts (essays) and photographs, with one work per person in each category.
The photo category requires two to four photographs taken and owned by the entrant or a family member and a single statement of at most 40 characters. Prepare each photo description within 30 characters: the application’s photo table says “within 30 characters,” its FAQ recommends that length, and the poster says “around 30 characters.” AI-generated or partially composited images cannot be entered; basic brightness, contrast and crop edits are permitted. The notice table says JPG/JPEG, but the same form’s instructions say JPG or PNG. Ask KDCA to confirm the accepted file format before submitting; a phone camera does not make HEIC automatically eligible. The essay form calls for up to three pages (stated as “2–3 pages”), Gulim 12-point, 160% line spacing, and no margin adjustments. The patient or a family member must write the essay themselves and email the original file, not a scan; writing by an unrelated proxy is excluded from judging.
Send the form and the work to the announced address
Download the official application form from the KDCA notice and email it with the work to [email protected]. The form contains declarations and signatures for personal and sensitive data, participant undertakings, and identifiable third-party photographing/publicity consent. The published deadline is November 18, without a stated final-hour cutoff. Ask the KDCA rare-disease unit at 043-719-8784 about the contradictory image-format wording or any individual submission uncertainty.
KDCA plans eight awards per category, sixteen in all. The press text says winners will be announced during January 2027; the attached poster lists January 8, 2027, and says schedule changes will be posted on KDCA/Helpline sites. An entry is not a promise of an award.
Consider rights and privacy before submitting
KDCA plans to use works in a collected edition, its and the Helpline’s websites, and a later awareness event. Under the official application, entrants retain copyright and related rights but grant KDCA permission to use their entries. For the contest’s stated public purposes, KDCA may produce, modify, reproduce and distribute entries without a time limit, whether or not they win, and may provide them to related organisations for public-interest use. This is a licence, not a copyright transfer. Separately, the form sets personal and sensitive data retention and use at one year from application, or three years for winners. The application also requires directly taken/owned photographs, respect for third-party rights, signed consent for personal and sensitive data, and permission from identifiable third parties for photographing and public promotional use (with guardian involvement for under-14s). Obscure hospital names, patient numbers, records, prescriptions and name tags. Read the form for the exact collection and use terms before deciding whether to enter. AI-generated or partially composited photographs are not eligible.
Naver companion: Short Korean explanation of phone photos and email submission.
About the Author
Life Mokcha compares the official KDCA notice, application and poster, distinguishing stated entry rules from the rights and consent language in the actual form. It cannot determine individual eligibility or awards.
References
- Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency official contest notice, October 19, 2026 (Korean).
- Official KDCA application form (HWPX) and contest poster (PDF) (Korean).
- KDCA and Rare Disease Helpline (official form and schedule-update channels; verify the live contest listing).
