KOREAN NET

The Korean Embassy in Athens, Greece on May 15 invited Greek teachers and students of Korean who attended the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's international joint class to the ambassador's residence for a Korean cultural experience. (Embassy's official Facebook page)

By Uyen Nguyen

The number of schools offering education in the Korean language and culture is steadily increasing in tandem with the spread of Hallyu (Korean Wave).

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on June 30 announced its designation this year of 29 more branches of King Sejong Institute in 23 countries, raising the overall figure to 273 in 89 states.

Among the additions are the first such branches in Greece, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.

Nineteen of the 29 will be operated in cooperation with educational institutions of the host countries. Seoul National University and eight other Korean schools will participate in the program for the first time.

Participation by Korean universities in the Sejong Academy program is also expected to help attract talented students abroad and raise the global competitiveness of such institutions.

Last year, the number of students online and offline at the branches hit a record-high 239,020. This year's applications drew interest from 102 institutions in 45 countries, the highest in five years and underscoring high global demand for Korean-language education.

The ministry pledged to continue expanding the Sejong Academy network to meet rising demand for Korean-language education worldwide.

uyen81@korea.kr