DIS historians traveled to Seoul International School (SIS) to compete in the National History Day Korea competition on March 7. Centered around the theme “Revolutions, Rights, and Reactions,” students curated projects across various categories with unique perspectives on historical events and brought home accolades. 

This year, the SIS hosts modified judging practices. In the past, judges did not receive directions on defined lengths of time they must dedicate to interview participants. As a result, some Q&A sessions ran shorter than others. 

“Compared to last year, I would say it became longer overall. I remember it was five minutes and then this year it became significantly longer so it became like 15 minutes. They also asked more analytical questions and gave more constructive criticism, so I really liked that they gave more comprehensive feedback compared to last year,” DIS sophomore and two-year consecutive NHD participant Thomas Kim said.

To combat this issue, the organizers informed judges to conduct more thorough interviews. “We believe the interview is an integral part of the competition. Having students work on a project for months and then only having a 2-4 minute interview seems unfair to me,” NHD coordinator Steve Nave said. “We did encourage them to be very thorough during the interview in order to let the students show off their knowledge.”

Longer interview times translated to deeper analyses between contestants and judges, which improved student satisfaction. “Last year, I only received [around] 5 minutes of judging,” SIS Freshman contestant Abigail Park said. “Which I think was really disappointing because I dedicated so much time to my project, especially because the competition is for like 8 hours.” “This year, [the judges] gave me a proper, 15-minute interview, which I think is a lot better,” Park said.

The judging process, while intended to be objective, saw some close calls slip through the cracks. “Last year the judging was very well organized and structured. But this year, I think they didn’t give enough feedback and questions to me,” DIS sophomore Sally Yun said.

Still, Mr. Nave expressed optimism about further changes to the NHD interview process. “There are a number of reforms we are considering for judging next year and we hope to announce those soon…We also really want to do final interviews and we are already working on how that could work logistically,” Mr. Nave said. “Hopefully, in the future we will not only be able to better educate the judges but also students, parents, and teachers when it comes to the judging process.”

The host campus also introduced new activities to help contestants unwind and ease their nerves after interviews. New additions included a chess tournament, a Clash Royale competition and a jazz performance by the SIS jazz band. “I especially enjoyed the jazz performance,” SIS freshman contestant Soomin Ryu said. “It’s a new [addition] this year, but the band played very well.”

Yet, some of the planned programs failed to take place. “I was especially disappointed because the Clash Royale event didn’t happen…nobody showed up. Especially because I practiced so much for the tournament,” DIS sophomore Yeonhoo Park said. 

Members of the NHD council linked this mishap to a lack of organization and student participation. “Part of the problem was that not enough people signed up for the Clash Royale event because a lot of people didn’t know about the forms,” SIS freshman and member of NHD council Sally Kim said. “Next year, we hope that there will be more participants.”

DIS still clutched gold, with freshman Charlie Park, freshman Kevin Ahn, sophomore Alex Seo and sophomore Elena Lee placing on top in the Senior Group Website Category. “I didn’t expect to win…I was really nervous,” Charlie Park said. “When our group won, I was really excited, because we worked really hard.”

With a ticket to the NHD finals in June, the crew searched for areas of improvement. “I think I could’ve done better on the interview, I was quite nervous,” Charlie Park said. “We won because we worked really hard. We prepared most of our project in advance. We focused on understanding the topic.”

In addition to high schoolers, middle schoolers also received accolades, with eighth-grader Alex Hyun earning bronze. “The Junior Individual Paper Category was the first to be announced, so I was very nervous beforehand,” Hyun said. “When I saw that I had won, I didn’t believe it at first. But once I realized I was placed 3rd, I felt really rewarded for all the work and effort I had put into my project.”

Seventh-grader Dana Lee and her group also took the top spot for the Junior Group Documentary category. “When we were announced, I immediately screamed in disbelief and excitement,” Lee said. “I couldn’t believe we won, but at the same time, the feeling of the hard work me and my teammates went through was reflected.”

Lee attributed her win to the efforts of her teammates. “My teammates Kyla, Jay, and Gaaon worked hard and poured all our time into NHD, staying up late,” Lee said. “We won not only because we could answer questions well and the documentary was good, but also because of our teamwork and communication.”

The 2026 NHD competition introduced revised procedures and distinctive new events. Students who placed first and second will continue refining their projects as they prepare to represent DIS at the national competition, held June 14-18 at the University of Maryland.  

Congratulations to all the winners:

Junior Paper

Alex Hyun (3rd Place)

Ann Oh (2nd Place)

Junior Group Website

Elin Koo, Chloe Woo (2nd Place)

Senior Group Website

Charlie Park, Elena Lee, Alex Seo, Kevin Ahn (1st Place)

Junior Group Documentary

Gaaon Kim, Kyla Ahn, Dana Lee, Jay Jang (1st Place)

Senior Group Documentary

Sophie Lee, Sally Lee, Bryan Lee (3rd Place)

Junior Individual Performance

Esther Choi (2nd Place)

Senior Individual Performance

Christine An (2nd Place)

Gallery • 6 Photos

Esther Choi

Eighth-grader Mary Kong fearlessly introduces her exhibition to the judges. Her confidence inspires the audience, setting her project up for success.