Seoul's lifelong learning portal tops 2 mil. members, launches free kids' English program
The webpage of Seoul Metropolitan Government's Lifelong Learning Portal / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that membership on its Seoul Lifelong Learning Portal, an online platform offering courses ranging from professional certifications to hobbies, surpassed 2 million as of Friday.
The portal launched in 2012 with about 40,000 members and has added an average of 350,000 new members annually over the past five years, drawing users from across the country.
The site offers courses in fields such as digital skills and artificial intelligence, the humanities, arts and culture, alongside expert-led lectures and a subscription service linking users to content from private Korean education platforms including Class101, Willa and CreativeTV. This year, the city redesigned the portal's interface and added a homepage feature allowing users to find courses tailored to their age group.
To mark the milestone, the city will run a public online event from Sept. 11 to Oct. 31, offering prize drawings to members who submit congratulatory messages or complete one of the portal's five most popular courses.
Separately, the city will launch Seoul Learn Kids English with Khan Academy Kids on Sept. 14, a free English-learning service for elementary school-level learners. The program adapts more than 700 pieces of content from Khan Academy Kids, a U.S. nonprofit's free educational platform, to Korea's elementary curriculum across three proficiency levels.
Users take a placement test, then follow six months of level-based lessons — 16 to 20 pieces of content per month via the Khan Academy Kids mobile app — before a three-month progress assessment, with the cycle repeating. The three levels progress from phonics and basic conversation to grammar and reading tied to third- through sixth-grade coursework.
“Reaching two million members on the Seoul Lifelong Learning Portal is a meaningful milestone achieved through the steady interest and participation of our citizens,” said Lee Hae-seon, director general of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Lifelong Education Bureau.
“Starting with our newly launched Seoul Learn Kids English program, we will continue expanding tailored educational content and services across all life stages — from children to middle-aged adults — so every generation can pursue learning that fits their interests and needs.”
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.