Sejong Hakdang to Open in Peru, Austria, and Other Countries

Sixteen Countries, Nineteen Cities Newly Designated

On the 20th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that Sejong Institutes will be established in nineteen cities across sixteen countries this year. These include W?rzburg in Germany, Lilongwe in Malawi, Fes in Morocco, Ogden in the United States, Ong Bi in Vietnam, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, Reykjav?k in Iceland, Vienna in Austria, Andijan in Uzbekistan, Pune in India, Banda Aceh in Indonesia, New Taipei and Taichung in Taiwan, Sreung, Poi Pet, and Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Abidjan in C?te d'Ivoire, and Lima in Peru. These locations were selected as new cultural exchange spaces after overcoming a competition rate exceeding 4:1 in the designation contest. The Sejong Institute Foundation explained, "This decision was made after a four-month evaluation of Korean language learning demand and supply status, the conditions of operating institutions' facilities, and Korean language teachers and staff."

The demand for learning Korean continues to steadily increase. While the number of Sejong Institute students was only 740 when it was first established in 2007, it reached 117,636 last year. Jeong Hyang-mi, Director of Cultural Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "The spread of K-culture is leading to a Korean language craze," adding, "We will establish ourselves as a specialized Korean language education institution through service advancement such as curriculum development, securing professional teachers, and diversifying teaching materials." Currently, Sejong Institutes operate in 248 locations across eighty-five countries.

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