Korean language program to air on Chinese TV

Zhou Yu Bo, CEO of the People’s Daily Online Korea, from left, Kim Kab-soo, deputy minister and director of the Korean Culture and Information Service, and Song Hyang-keun, president of Courtesy of Korean Culture and Information Service (KCIF), watch a promotional sample video of the “Travel Korean,” Wednesday, during a press conference held at the Foreign Press Service Center in central Seoul. / Courtesy of KCIF

By Yun Suh-young

A Korean language learning program produced by the Korean government and China’s People's Daily Online will be broadcast on national Chinese TV starting October.

The Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) and the King Sejong Institute Foundation (KSIF), which are affiliates of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), will produce a 50-episode Korean-language program called "Travel Korean" to be aired in China, the two organizations announced at a press conference, Wednesday.

Five-minute-long episodes will educate Chinese viewers in frequently used Korean expressions they may encounter while traveling in Korea. The show aims to merge travel and education to optimize the language-learning experience.

"Every year, around 6 million Chinese tourists visit Korea. However, the biggest difficulty they face while traveling Korea is the language barriers. In order to mitigate this inconvenience, we wanted to provide a program where we could offer Korean language education as well as introduce Korean culture and society to the Chinese," said Kim Kab-soo, deputy minister and director of KOCIS.

"The program will be filmed in regions where Chinese tourists visit most, such as Seoul and Gangwon Province. The educational experience will be real as they will learn expressions they can handily use during their travels," said Song Hyang-keun, president of KCIF, which is an institute established by the government to disseminate Korean language education overseas.

"If existing language programs were filmed inside the studio, this one is filmed at travel destinations. Viewers will feel like they are actually traveling Korea."

KOCIS and China’s People's Daily Online signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in March to co-produce the show. It is the first Chinese content produced by the Korean government in collaboration with a Chinese media company. The program will be aired on China Education Television (CETV) which caters to 970 million viewers in China.

"We have high hopes for the program as it will be aired on national Chinese TV. It will also be aired on the People's Daily Online. We hope to expand understanding between the two countries and further establish cooperative ties," said Kim.

The People's Daily Online Korea website was launched in 2012 and has provided videos on Chinese language education for Koreans since 2013.

"The content was met with positive responses from viewers. We didn't expect so many Koreans to watch it, but due to viewer enthusiasm, we decided to expand the airing of content through other media. Likewise, we thought of providing similar content for the Chinese to learn Korean. This will help bridge the two countries together," said Zhou Yu Bo, CEO of People's Daily Online Korea, who will be the instructor teaching Korean in the program.

After negotiations with several other broadcasting stations, the People’s Daily Online Korea settled on CETV. The program will also air in Korea on Arirang TV, and can also be viewed on the People's Daily Online website which has on average 400 to 700 million viewers daily, according to Zhou.

“We hope to expand the filming regions from the current Seoul and Gangwon Province to other regions of Korea that may need promotion in China,” she said.

Zhou is the bureau chief of People's Daily Online's Korea branch and is a visiting professor at Ewha Womans University. She has a doctoral degree in Korean language education from Seoul National University.

"It's been 20 years since I learned Korean,” she said. “I will input my language-learning knowhow and affection for Korean culture in this program and help enhance understanding between the two cultures."

Despite the current rocky relations between the two countries since Korea's announcement to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the peninsula, Zhou expected no setbacks in producing the TV program.

"This year is the 24th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea,” said Zhou. “We shouldn't go back to square one. I believe in the wisdom of the leaders to find a solution and hope for no impact on our project. At the moment, we are not facing any problems.”