Choi Won-young Space-Out Contest Guide: Why the Actor Placed Second at Gwanghwamun

Actor Choi Won-young became one of the most talked-about participants at the 2026 Gwanghwamun Space-Out event after placing second in the contest held on April 14, 2026. The actor joined the competition as a formal participant, not simply as a guest, and completed the 90-minute challenge alongside citizens at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.¹

The event was connected to JTBC’s new Saturday-Sunday drama “Everyone Is Fighting Against Their Own Worthlessness,” also promoted in Korean shorthand as “Mo-ja-mu-ssa.” For readers trying to understand why Choi’s result received attention, the key point is simple: a well-known actor entered a public space-out contest under the same basic format as regular participants and finished in second place.²

Choi Won-young at the 2026 Gwanghwamun Space-Out Contest

The 2026 contest took place on April 14 at Gwanghwamun Square, with reports also identifying the specific setting as Yukjo Madang in the Gwanghwamun area of Jongno-gu, Seoul.³ Photo coverage from Seoul Shinmun and Yonhap also confirmed the same date and Gwanghwamun Square location.⁴

Choi Won-young participated together with actor Cho Min-guk and other citizens for the full 90-minute competition. Newsis reported that Choi finished in second place, while Hankyung also covered his runner-up result and linked the event to the drama’s promotional collaboration.¹²

His own comments added a lighter but useful detail to the story. After the result, Choi said he had prepared with ambition from the previous night because he had aimed to win.¹ In a later interview carried by Star News via Daum, he suggested that his ordinary habit of spacing out in the morning may have helped him during the contest.³

That interview also explained why the result was more than a celebrity cameo. Choi was one of 70 teams, and his second-place finish came under the same competitive conditions used to judge other participants.³ For anyone searching for the “Choi Won-young Space-Out Contest” story, that combination of celebrity participation, measurable contest rules, and a surprisingly high finish is the central reason the item stood out.

How the Gwanghwamun Space-Out Contest Worked

The event’s format was deliberately simple: participants had to do nothing for 90 minutes. Sports Kyunghyang’s advance report described the contest as selecting the citizen who could maintain the calmest heart rate while spending the session without activity.⁵

The rules were stricter than the idea may sound. Star News via Daum reported that speaking, using a mobile phone, and dozing off could lead to elimination. Final rankings were decided by combining stable heart-rate performance with citizen voting.³

This matters because Choi’s second-place result was not based only on appearance or audience reaction. The contest had a defined scoring structure that included both a physiological element and public voting. In practical terms, participants needed to remain visibly inactive while also keeping their condition steady enough to satisfy the competition’s judging approach.

The broader purpose of the event was also part of its appeal. Hankyung reported that the 2026 edition was arranged around the idea of stepping away from the compulsion to be productive and rediscovering the “value of worthlessness.”² Cookie News similarly described the contest as proposing a period of doing nothing for modern people living busy daily lives.⁶

That theme matched the drama collaboration. The event was held with JTBC’s “Everyone Is Fighting Against Their Own Worthlessness,” and reports framed the tie-in as related to the drama’s planning intention.¹⁶ Sports Kyunghyang also reported before the event that the site would include a drama experience zone, photo zone, goods exchange area, and a lounge where visitors could watch a teaser video.⁵

What Readers Should Know After the Event

Because the contest was held on April 14, 2026, it should now be treated as a completed event, not an upcoming schedule. The available reports confirm the date, location, format, and Choi Won-young’s second-place finish, but they do not provide a future application schedule or ticketing process for another edition.

For readers checking whether Choi won, the answer is no: he placed second. For readers checking whether he participated as part of the drama promotion, the answer is yes: reports connect his participation to JTBC’s drama “Everyone Is Fighting Against Their Own Worthlessness” and the shorthand title “Mo-ja-mu-ssa.”³

The event also had a longer-running context. Sports Kyunghyang described Gwanghwamun’s space-out contest as having continued for 12 years by the time of the 2026 edition.⁵ That helps explain why the competition could function both as a civic event and as a promotional collaboration without needing a complicated format.

Choi’s remarks after the contest kept the focus on the event’s central message. In the Star News interview carried by Daum, he said that sometimes “it is okay to just be like that,” a comment that fits the contest’s premise of giving non-productive time a visible place in the middle of the city.³

작성자 소개

Patrick Choi

Administrator

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