Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Number of people taking Korean language proficiency test hits record high as interest surges
Applicants take the 25th Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) at Kyung Hee University in Dongdaemun District, Seoul, in this Jan. 29, 2012 photo. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han
By Bahk Eun-ji
What began with the worldwide success of K-pop and TV dramas has evolved into something broader: Korean is now among the most widely studied languages around the world.
More than half a million people took the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) this year, highlighting how the global popularity of Korean culture is attracting a growing number of learners.
According to data from the Ministry of Education and the National Institute for International Education, around 550,000 people had taken TOPIK as of September this year — the highest number since the exam was first introduced in 1997.
The number of test-takers has steadily increased in recent years, rising from approximately 360,000 in 2022 to 420,000 in 2023 and 490,000 in 2024, before surpassing 500,000 for the first time this year.
Internet-based testing (IBT) is currently available in 13 countries, including Korea, the United States, China and Indonesia. Four more countries — Nepal, Laos, Bahrain and India — will be added next year, bringing the total to 17.
The ministry plans to increase the number of annual testing sessions from six to 15 by 2025, as well as tighten anti-cheating measures, particularly with regard to the use of artificial intelligence translation tools. The ministry is also seeking to improve accessibility by expanding IBT to more regions.
More than 90 percent of test-takers are from Asia, where a strong interest in Korean culture has led to high demand for language education. The steepest increases have been recorded in Vietnam and China, where the number of applicants has more than tripled over the past three years.
Data disclosed by the main opposition People Power Party Rep. Kim Seung-su of the National Assembly’s Education Committee also illustrates this growing wave of interest. According to Kim, the number of overseas test-takers increased from 64,000 in 2020 to 282,000 this year — a more than fourfold increase.
He said these figures demonstrate how the spread of Korean culture is reshaping educational and cultural exchanges across Asia. “Interest in Korean culture has led to an explosive rise in language learning,” he said. “Especially in Asia, where most students are concentrated, more institutional support is urgently needed.”
However, education infrastructure has not kept pace with this surge in demand. According to the 2024 Education Statistics Yearbook, only 209 out of 1,405 Korean language schools worldwide are located in Asia (14.9 percent), less than a third of the 692 located in North America. Out of 14,058 registered Korean language teachers, only 2,318 (16.5 percent) are assigned to Asian countries.
The King Sejong Institute network is also struggling to meet a rise in demand. Of its 252 branches worldwide, 141 (56 percent) are located in Asia, yet some 8,800 students remain on waiting lists for classes.
The growing presence of the Korean language can now be seen in everyday speech, too. The Oxford English Dictionary now includes 48 words of Korean origin, including “mukbang” (eating broadcast), “daebak” (jackpot) and “chimaek” (fried chicken and beer), which have become part of everyday vocabulary around the world. Linguists say the inclusion of such terms shows how Korea’s creative industries are helping the language take deeper root globally.
The education ministry has announced that it will continue to expand the number of TOPIK test sites and strengthen its cooperation with overseas institutions in order to ensure stable exam operation and provide more opportunities for learners worldwide.