Na Re was Crowned Miss Korea 2008

Beautiful korean contestants from 12 local cities and delegates abroad such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Hawaii entered the contest. A total of 15 judges, including Lee In-jung, president of the Korean Alpine Federation; Jeong Gi-sang, vice president of the Hankook Ilbo; Seo Yong-won, vice president of Korean Air; and actor Park Sang-won participated in the event.

The annual 52nd Miss Korea Pageant was hosted by former announcer Shin Young-il and Park Jung-ah, a member of the pop group Jewelry, and was organized by the Hankook Ilbo and Sports Hankook, sister papers of The Korea Times. Miss Korea 2008 was sponsored by The Korea Times, the Seoul Economic Daily, Hankooki.com and Kids Hankook.

Musical guest are the Korean pop group Super Junior Happy performs as the contestants participated in various dance performances in teams.

22 year old representing Seoul, Na Re was crowned as the new Miss Korea 2008 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Seoul. She will be the representative of her country at Miss Universe 2009 Beauty Pageant.

Na Re was in tears as she heard the announcement of the winner as she recieves the diamond studded crown from former Miss Korea Sun Lee.

"I did my best and I am honored to have seen the best result. I will continue to make every effort to become a person fit for the title Miss Korea," Na said.

Na is studying at Yonsei University taking up a major in applied statistics. She is an expert at playing the violin, Pilates and also enjoys reading and watching movies. She also dreams of becoming a writer someday.

The new beauty queen addresses her family and friends, who were watching from the audience and cheering her on.

"The first person that comes to my mind is my mother. I also thank my fellow participants, the staff who helped me prepare and also my friends from Yonsei University" she said.

Miss Korea Beauty Contest has (2) first runners-up -- the 21 year old student of Ewha Womans University, Choi Bo-in. She will competing at the Miss World Pageant in Ukraine this October 2008. And the other one is representing Korea in the Miss International Beauty Contest 2008 to be held in Japan and Macau. She is the 19 year old Kim Min-jung from Daegu University.

There were (4) second runners-up -- Seo Seol-hee, 19 years old from Taekyeung University. She was also crowned as Miss Korea-Natural F&P. Lee Yu-na, 20 years-old from Chosun University. 21 years of age Chang Yun-hee of Yonsei University and also crowned as Miss Korea-Jin Air. And Kim Hee-kyeong, 23 years old from Hanzhong University, who was also named Miss Korea-Hankook Ilbo.

Photo (left to right): Lee Yu-na, Seo Seol-hee, Kim Min-jung, Na Re, Choi Bo-in, Yun-hee, and Ilbo Kim Hee-kyeong.