KT said on Tuesday it is holding a children's writers contest on Genie TV Kidsland, its IPTV service for infants and young children, and will run related parent education workshops.

KT runs a picture book production programme called "Together Drawn Book" to communicate with parents, Kidsland's main customers. The contest was planned to select child writers to take part in the picture book "Together Drawn Book: My Friend", which is scheduled to be published in the second half of this year.

The contest is open to children born from 2013 (age 12) to 2022 (age 3), and the theme is "My Friend". Children can freely express in writing and drawings a friend as they see it, including not only peers but also parents or siblings, pets, favourite dolls, or imaginary friends.

Participation is complete by submitting writing and drawings by Feb. 14 via a QR code within Genie TV Kidsland or a link on Genie TV Kidsland's Instagram. KT will select up to 50 winners in March together with publisher Roybooks.

KT also prepared parent education workshops tied to the contest with the psychological counselling centre Hugmom Hugin. At the workshops, Choi Lira, a psychological counsellor and the author of "Because I Want to Be a Good Parent for You", explains what friends mean to children and introduces communication methods focused on the relationship between parents and children.

The workshops will be held for 20 people on Jan. 16 at Kyobo Book Centre's Gwanghwamun branch, and for a total of 200 people on Jan. 22 and 23 at KT's Gwanghwamun Building West in Jongno district, Seoul.

To take part, applicants can watch the past season of "Together Drawn Book" on Genie TV Kidsland through Jan. 13 and apply with a remote control by following on-screen instructions. Applications can also be submitted through a link on Genie TV Kidsland's Instagram.

Choi Kwang-chul, head of KT's IPTV Business Division, said Genie TV Kidsland will go beyond an IPTV platform service and build a space for customer participation.