A South Korean student became a legitimate contender for “the world’s sexiest man” after dominating at the 2019 Mister Global pageant on Thursday.

Kim Jongwoo, 23, bested 37 other contestants to win the title of Mister Global in the annual pageant.

Kim, who’s taking up a bachelor’s degree in police administration, was chosen by the pageant’s panel of judges as the contest’s most “inspiring gentleman.”

View this post on Instagram Mister Global 2019 A post shared by Mister Global (@officialmisterglobal) on Sep 26, 2019 at 8:35pm PDT

Houssem Saïdi of Tunisia came up short in the judges’ criteria and ended up as the first runner-up.

Meanwhile, Spain’s José Luis Rodrigo Navarro, Switzerland’s Kenan Murseli, and the Dominican Republic’s Braulio Encarnación settled for second runner-up, third runner-up and fourth runner-up awards, respectively.

Among the 38 contestants who took part in this year’s competition are entrants from the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, the Philippines and others.

Held every year in Thailand since 2014, this year’s edition was hosted in Bangkok on September 26.

View this post on Instagram Thai Boxing! #misterglobal #misterglobal2019 A post shared by Mister Global (@officialmisterglobal) on Sep 15, 2019 at 4:47am PDT

Under this year’s theme, “Inspiring Gentleman,” Mister Global 2019 will be an “inspirational role model for young men all around the world.”

He will also champion environmental and charitable projects as a Global Goodwill Ambassador, according to the pageant’s website.

Featured image via Instagram/misterglobalofficial