Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
LG hosts multicultural youth camp to foster global student growth
LG Global School participants and mentors pose during the two-day camp held Saturday and Sunday. Courtesy of LG Group
By Lee Gyu-lee
LG held a two-day immersive camp for middle school students from multicultural backgrounds on Saturday and Sunday, as part of its long-running multicultural education initiative, LG Global School.
Over the weekend, the camp brought together around 90 students representing eight language backgrounds nationwide in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, for intensive training designed to strengthen bilingual proficiency and deepen cross-cultural understanding.
Launched in 2010, LG Global School is the company’s corporate social responsibility program in partnership with government and academia.
The program selects roughly 450 elementary and middle school students annually for a two-year curriculum.
In partnership with academic institutions including Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Seoul National University, it focuses on improving proficiency in eight languages — including Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Russian — while also strengthening students’ cultural and scientific competencies.
More than 7,000 students have completed the program as of last year.
LG positions multicultural youth as future global workers with unique strengths rooted in bilingual and bicultural identities. The initiative reflects LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo’s emphasis on talent as a driver of innovation and national competitiveness.
The camp for middle school students is a key component of the curriculum, giving participants, who primarily study online during the semester, an opportunity to engage in in-person activities and interact with peers from different linguistic backgrounds.
Participants also underwent intensive study of their parents’ native languages, along with cultural immersion programs, team projects and career exploration workshops.
LG Global School alumni, many of whom are now university students or early-career professionals, also joined the latest camp as mentors. They not only offered academic guidance but also helped reinforce a sense of community among participants.
The company said a series of talent development events are slated in the coming months, including a summer camp for elementary school students and a science camp at Seoul National University in August, as well as its 14th bilingual speech contest in November.
“Multicultural youth represent a vital global talent pool that can help offset Korea’s demographic decline and serve as a future engine of innovation,” an LG official said.
“We will continue to support their growth so they can integrate across all sectors of society and thrive on the global stage.”