Cho Seong Jin wins International Chopin piano competition

South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho, left, reacts after being named the winner of the 17th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Piano player Cho Seong Jin became the first South Korean contestant to win International Chopin piano competition.

Fryderyk Chopin Institute announced Cho Seong Jin as the winner for the competition in its 17th round held on October 2015 in Warsaw.

This competition originally started on 1927 to honor Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin, and it’s considered one of the three international music competitions along with International Tchaikovsky music competition and Queen Elizabeth’s international competition to be held in Belgium.

This competition is held every five years in the polish capital, where Chopin was born. The contestants are usually young piano players with ages varying from 16 to 30, playing Chopin music only.

This year about 160 players participated from 27 countries, reaching the finals 78 from 20 countries. For the final round, 10 players from 8 countries were competing.

Before Cho Seong Jin’s win, two Korean players managed to tie in the third spot in 2005, Lim Dong Hyek and Lim Dong Min.