The 2025 SD Seoul International Vocal Competition has named baritone Choi Jun-young as the grand prize winner.

Preliminary rounds began on Aug. 30, with a total of 244 participants, with 35 contestants advancing to the finals.  The total prize pool was 33.8 million won.

Along with the grand prize, Jun-young also won the Solo Opera Company Special Award, which carries a cash prize of 1 million won and the opportunity to perform on stage. Jeong Tae-jun came in second place and also received the Noble Art Opera Special Award.

In the high school seniors and repeaters category, first place went to Kim Won and Jin Su-yeong. In the high school freshman and sophomore categories, Han Seung-yu and Park Ha-yoon came in first. Hwang Yu-jun and Hong Chae-won came in first in the middle school category. Additionally, the Foreigner Special Award went to Han Haodong.

Bass Yeon Kwang-cheol served as chairman of the jury. He is quoted in a press release saying, “It is a great honor to be a part of discovering young and talented vocalists. After participating in the judging myself, I was deeply impressed to see that the SD Seoul International Vocal Competition is a competition with international-level fairness and authority.”