From left: Kim Seung-il, an acquaintance of the Italian ambassador; architect Hong Tae-sun; actor Park Joong-hoon; CICI Chair Choi Jung-wha; television personality and hanbok ambassador Fabio; Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto; Kim Hyun-sung of the Italian Embassy in Seoul; and Fabio Scapigliati, commercial attache at the Italian Embassy, pose for a photo during CCF 2026 held at the Italian ambassador’s residence in Seoul on Thursday. (CICI) The Korea Image Communication Institute (CICI) held the 17th Culture Communication Forum on Thursday, exploring the future of Korean cultural content and its competitiveness.Held at the residence of the Italian ambassador in Seoul, the forum brought together some 50 leading cultural figures and business leaders.Italian ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto described the Italian ambassador’s residence as a "place where Italy and Korea meet,” adding that the residence was "your home" for the evening. The ambassador delivered a welcome speech in Korean.The forum featured a participatory format where attendees watched finalist presentations and voted on-site to select the winners.Participants at the forum included Belgian Ambassador Bruno Jans, Singaporean Ambassador Wong Kai Jun, Peruvian Ambassador Paul Duclos, Luxembourg Ambassador Jacques Flies, Actor Park Joong-hoon, Architect Hong Tae-sun and Spanish television personality Fabio.In the "K-heritage and K-contemporary" category, Mazel Define CEO Jeong Jun-tae won the grand prize with “In 2075 There Are Still Things AI Cannot Hold,” a project emphasizing that emotional bonds cannot be replaced even in an AI-driven future.Park Min-kyu of GS Engineering & Construction received the excellence award for “K-Bojagi OS: From Wrapping to Circulation,” which reinterpreted the traditional Korean wrapping cloth as a sustainable lifestyle system.Han Sun-jung of Moon Jar Studio and Park Se-joon, a technical director at TBS, won the grand prize in the “K-Content’s Unique Competitiveness in the Age of AI” category with “The feel of language AI can’t imitate: the nuance of Korean,” highlighting Korea’s unique emotional concepts such as “jeong,” “han,” “nunchi” and “heung,” arguing that K-content derives its competitiveness from emotional subtleties that resist direct translation.CICI Chair Choi Jung-wha attributed the global rise of K-culture to the balance between “savoir-faire,” or the ability to create well, and “faire savoir,” the ability to communicate effectively.“Make it well. Tell it right. Win the world,” Choi said.