Yoon: "Vietnam's enthusiasm for Korean language is great... Korean government will support learning"

President Yoon and First Lady Attend Conversation with Korean Language Learners
Promise to Provide Digital-Based Korean Language Education
Presidential Office: "Korean Language as a Foundation for Korea-Vietnam Cooperation"

During his state visit to Vietnam, President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Korean language learners on the 22nd (local time) and pledged that the South Korean government will make every effort to support Korean language education for Vietnamese people.

On the afternoon of the same day, President Yoon attended the 'Dialogue with Vietnamese Korean Language Learners' held at Hanoi National University, where he made this statement and promised Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, "I will have you go to Vietnam and see it for yourself." The event was also attended by First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

The event, themed "Our Dreams Nurtured in Korean," was attended by about 70 people, including students studying Korean and education institution officials in Vietnam.

President Yoon first greeted in Vietnamese, saying "Xin ch?o (Hello)," and remarked, "It has already been over 30 years since Vietnam and South Korea established diplomatic relations and became friendly nations," adding, "The two countries share many possibilities, have achieved cooperation in economic industries, and our friendship and cooperative relationship have greatly contributed to the development and growth of both countries."

President Yoon expressed that he felt the enthusiasm for Korean language education in Vietnam and felt a responsibility to reciprocate. He said, "I have also heard that the passion of Vietnamese students studying Korean in Korea is tremendous," and "I heard that Korean has been adopted as the first foreign language, and before entering this room today, the person who introduced themselves to me and the various textbooks here made me realize that what I heard in Seoul is no different from reality."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "We will make it easier for you to access Korean language related to the fields you are interested in through metaverse and digital platforms, and by presenting actual Korean speech, we will help you understand and learn Korean comprehensively," emphasizing, "When studying Korean to enter a certain field, the government will make every effort to help you easily acquire the Korean language and specialized terminology needed in that field."

He also promised, "Since I have also observed how Vietnamese students are supported in their Korean language education, I will have our Minister of Education go to Vietnam and see it for himself," adding, "I am pleased, and the South Korean government will take responsibility and reciprocate the enthusiasm for studying Korean."

Earlier, students from the affiliated middle school of Hanoi University of Foreign Studies performed "Arirang" on traditional Vietnamese instruments as President Yoon and his wife entered the annex building's first floor, the venue of the event.

The presidential couple also toured exhibits at the event entrance, including Sejong Institute Korean language textbooks, the official Korean language textbooks for Vietnamese elementary and secondary schools scheduled for first publication in January next year, and Korean grammar notebooks created by Korean studies students.

They then listened attentively to the dreams and futures that young generations?Vietnamese elementary, middle, and high school students, university students, and working adults?hope to achieve after learning Korean.

President Yoon heard personal stories from a high school student planning to study in Korea to become a future AI developer, a university student majoring in Korean aspiring to be a Korean language interpreter and translator, an IT company employee selected as a Korean government scholarship recipient this year, and a working professional who studied Korean at the Sejong Institute and joined a Korean company in Vietnam.

Prior to the event, the presidential couple had a meeting at the main building of Hanoi National University with Le Quan, President of Hanoi National University, Nguyen Kim Son, Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam, and others.

The Presidential Office stated, "This event, conducted entirely in Korean without interpretation, was an opportunity to directly confirm the high enthusiasm for Korean language learning in Vietnam and to recognize that Korean is not only a personal competitive advantage for the future generation in Vietnam but also a foundation for close solidarity and cooperation between the future generations of Korea and Vietnam."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.