“Nepal, Cuba Joins the Korean Wave”… 18 new Sejong Institutes designated in 15 countries

Expanded to 256 locations in 88 countries… Surpassing 216,000 students annually,

[Seoul=Newsis] By Park Joo-yeon = The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 24th that in collaboration with the Sejong Hakdang Foundation, it has designated 18 new Sejong Centers in 15 countries, increasing the total number of locations promoting the Korean language to 256 in 88 countries., ‘[Seoul=Newsis] By Park Joo-yeon = The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 24th that in collaboration with the Sejong Hakdang Foundation, it has designated 18 new Sejong Centers in 15 countries, increasing the total number of locations promoting the Korean language to 256 in 88 countries.’,
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, ‘Sejong Hakdang started with 13 locations in 3 countries in 2007 and rapidly expanded following the global Hallyu wave. In 2012, it reached 90 locations in 43 countries, 130 locations in 55 countries in 2014, 172 locations in 57 countries in 2018, 213 locations in 76 countries in 2020, and 248 locations in 85 countries in 2023.’,
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, ‘The number of students, which was 740 annually in 2007, surpassed 216,000 last year. This represents a 20.8% increase compared to the number of students in 2022 (178,973).’,
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, “With the new designations, learning Korean will be easier in countries without Sejong Centers such as ‘Nepal’ and ‘Cuba.'”,
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, ‘Nepal, as a country that issues a large number of employment permits, had insufficient local learning conditions despite the increasing demand for Korean language learning. With a Sejong Center designated in the capital, Kathmandu, systematic Korean language education and the spread of Korean culture are expected.’,
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, ‘Cuba, which established diplomatic relations with Korea in February, is a country that is expected to have various cultural and human exchanges. The first Sejong Center in Havana will expand the promotion of the Korean language and is expected to become a hub for Korean cultural exchanges in Central and South America.’,
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, ‘New Sejong Centers have also been established in Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, India, China, Kazakhstan, Thailand, the Philippines (2), Germany (2), Sweden, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Australia, and others. The 18 newly designated Sejong Centers will undergo a pilot operation for 6 months after completing procedures such as contracting before officially commencing operations starting next year.’,
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, ‘In this open call, 97 organizations from 40 countries applied, recording a competition ratio of 5.4 to 1, the highest competition ratio in the past five years. The Sejong Center Designation Examination Committee meticulously reviewed documents, conducted on-site inspections, and made final selections over about 4 months to select 18 institutions with outstanding operational capabilities.’,
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, ‘The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to regularly evaluate and inspect the operation of existing Sejong Centers, provide support for improvement measures, and boldly designate and manage Sejong Centers that are inadequately operated or have difficulty in normal operation to ensure that the Sejong Centers are operated effectively.’,
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, ‘An official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, “The increasing number of Sejong Center students and the high competition ratio for the new Sejong Center designations indicate a strong interest in learning the Korean language.” They added, “We will announce innovative plans for Sejong Centers, which include strengthening the support system for Sejong Centers by region, and establish a solid foundation for sustainable spread of the Korean language and culture.”.’,
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