Korean enters public education systems overseas as ministry honours key contributors

Amid booming global demand for Korean cultural content, South Korea's Ministry of Education held an awards ceremony for those who have helped expand Korean-language teaching in public education systems abroad.

The ministry said it presented commendations for contributions to promoting Korean-language education overseas to domestic and international officials and related organisations that have successfully embedded Korean-language curricula in public education systems abroad and built multifaceted education models tailored to each country's circumstances, thereby raising the standing of South Korean higher education.

The awards were presented to honour people who, alongside the global spread of the Korean Wave and a sharp rise in demand to study in Korea, have led the adoption of Korean as a formal subject in local schools abroad and devoted themselves to strengthening global Korean-language infrastructure.

Recipients significantly expanded the number of schools teaching Korean through close partnerships with local education authorities and were praised for establishing local teacher-training systems that created a self-sustaining Korean-language education ecosystem. People in and beyond the education sector say the work has helped move Korean beyond a passing cultural craze and embed it more firmly in local public education systems.

A Ministry of Education official said: 'As the standing of the Korean language rises rapidly on the global stage, the number of countries introducing it as a second foreign language or a regular subject is growing sharply each year. Strengthening Korean-language education infrastructure overseas will provide a strong bridge for talented international students to study at universities in South Korea or find jobs with Korean companies.'

The government is actively pursuing a settlement-focused talent-attraction policy that closely links the recently announced 'Study Korea 300K Project', intended to expand the intake of foreign students, with the 'Regional Innovation-centred University Support System (RISE)', integrating overseas Korean-language education hubs with domestic higher-education infrastructure.

The ministry said it will continue to expand close networks with Korean Education Centres abroad, foreign universities and education authorities, while increasing support for textbook development, the dispatch of specialist teachers to local sites and online distance-education platforms, to support growth in both the scale and the quality of Korean-language education aimed at prospective international students worldwide.