KOREAN NET

Growing as an educational institution for 2,060 students based on 22 years of history

Korea and Vietnam have a long history. The history between two countries started in 1960 by sending Korean troops to the Vietnam War, and economic exchanges between Korea and Vietnam became highly active by establishing diplomatic relations in 1987.
This marked the beginning of Koreans living in Ho Chi Minh City, and the number of Korean immigrants expanded over time. In the center of such exchange, Korean International School HCMC plays a huge part.

As the economic exchange between two countries became active, the number of Korean residents in Ho Chi Minh City increased. In 1997, among 7,000 Korean people living in Vietnam, including children who are yet to enter school, there were about 2,500 people who were with their families. Due to the expensive tuition of nearby international schools, language issues, and educational environments, Korean students had to stay apart from their families to receive education in Korea or go to Philippines, Malaysia, and other neighboring countries that have a relatively lower amount of tuition. It resulted in scattering of family members, while at the same time raising necessity of establishing a Korean school in Vietnam.

As the importance of establishing a Korean school became a growing concern, the Korean community strived to establish a Korean school, reaching their goal at last in 1998. School establishment was finally approved by Ho Chi Minh City and Korea's Ministry of Education. In September of the same year, Korean International School Ho Chi Minh City opened its doors.

Starting with just 87 Korean students and 32 teachers, the school has grown to serve as an educational institution for 2,060 promising students as of 2023. In fact, it is the largest overseas Korean school in the world. Despite that, due to the insufficient space, there are lots of difficulties to embrace many Korean student and students from Korean-Vietnamese families.

Moreover, in order to become the global mecca for education in 2023, Korean International School HCMC plans to make new challenges.

View of Korean International School HCMC

Principal Son Seong-ho of Korean International School HCMC
“We serve as the bridge for education to create talented students who connect Korea and Vietnam, and Korea and the world by developing diverse abilities required by the future.”
---- Vision of Korean International School HCMC -----

On February 21, 2022, such a surprising event happened which was that an extremely young and handsome man in his mid-40s was appointed by Korean International School HCMC. Full of spirit and passion, principal Son Seong-ho had an honor to be dispatched to Korean International School HCMC as his ability was highly recognized while establishing diverse kinds of educational policies of Korea's Ministry of Education. In fact, the vision of Korean International School HCMC and its principal is to reinforce quality of education for the future education and promote GloNacal in order to produce numerous global citizens far beyond achieving quantitative growth of the school.

Regarding this, Korean International School HCMC has been taking a lead role in developing future educational model for overseas Korean schools by planning and operating the joint educational course connected with Korean international schools in Hanoi and Bangkok by introducing the AI educational course that combines all of the kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools together as the first overseas Korean school, while at the same time allowing the students to experience future-related subjects in diverse ways through its VR sports center, AI and coding programs, and KIS gallery. Such characteristics of are certainly the great pride of Korean International School HCMC that leads global education.

Other than that, the school provides various kinds of extracurricular activities such as orchestra performance for elementary school students, samulnori performance for kindergarten students, model UN program for middle school students, classes with native speakers for elementary school students, graduation ceremony for the 12th graders, musical performance presentation for middle school students, etc.

Principal Son Seong-ho prepares for the orchestra with students

Facility expansion of Korean International School HCMC
Korean International School HCMC has now become a school where many overseas Koreans want to send their children the most due to the high quality education, high college acceptance rate, and reasonable tuition, etc. However, the lack of physical space, the number of students per grade surpluses by 10, and the area for future education including AI training and AP course is also extremely insufficient. Besides, since 30% of the entire students are from Korean-Vietnamese family and the number of such families is continuously rising, the consulate and school seriously considered expansion of the school facility.

While the Vietnamese government suggested relocation of the school to another region, the situation was not satisfactory so it was determined to use the ground next to the school. Followed by it, the school found the real owner of the land who was a Vietnamese entrepreneur in educational field, and a deep discussion regarding the land usage took place with the consulate since June 2001. Based on the hard work of the consulate, the school had about 20 meetings with the land owner to persuade him regarding potential value of the school and importance of education for Korean-Vietnamese families. As a result of persistent persuasion, the school was able to conclude an MOU in December 2021 for donating the $23 million worth land for free. At present, the school is waiting for approval of the Vietnamese government regarding transfer of the land use, so the basis for school expansion is now prepared.

Thus, once the land use is approved, what needs to be done is construction for facility expansion. Since last October, the school began fund-raising for facility expansion, and the estimated construction expense is $10 million in total. $5 million would be supported by Korea's Ministry of Education, but the remaining amount must be prepared with the school development fund. It is no exaggeration to say that Korean International School HCMC was grown based on the support from the Korean residents in Vietnam, Korean government, and Korean companies in Vietnam since 1998. Subsequently, Korean International School HCMC was able to become such an excellent academic institution that everyone wants to attend. It would be great if the facility expansion of the school can become a good precedent that looks forward to future and creates an outstanding educational environment for many children.

As a Korean resident in Ho Chi Minh City, I highly look forward that Korean International School HCMC can further take a global leap towards the world by raising the school development fund by many people.

Expanding Korean International School HCMC