By Shim Jae-yun
Sejonghakdang (King Sejong Institute) in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports, will host a contest for Korean language speech for Nepalese people in a bid to help them realize their “Korean dream.”
The institute’s Katmandu branch, is organizing the event, the first of its kind, slated for June 7 under the theme “My Dream.”
Ahead of the main contest, the institute will hold an initial contest for 500 aspirants on May 25.
“The event will help boost mutual understanding and cooperation between the two countries. Some 80,000 Koreans visit Nepal annually and equally there has been a steady rise in the number of Nepalese visiting Korea over the recent years,” an institute official said.
Ven. Youngbong, head of the institute in Katmandu, expressed hope that the forthcoming event will help Nepalese people get more acquainted with the Korean language and feel closer to Korea and its people.
The Buddhist monk added that most Nepalese learn Korean faster and easier than those from other nations given the same linguistic order and absence of intonation in both Korean and Nepalese.
He has been running the Korean academy in Thailand and Nepal over the past 10 years, producing some 1,000 graduates.
The Korean Embassy in Nepal and the Koreans’ Association in Nepal are sponsoring the contest. The institute plans to host the event annually and extending it to cities beyond Katmandu, depending on the outcome of the forthcoming event.
The hosting of such an event is expected to greatly promote the hallyu (Korean wave) phenomenon in the country.
A recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports jointly with the Sejong Institute shows three out of 10 respondents said they learn Korean language to know more about Korean popular culture like K—drama or K-pop, followed by 19.3 percent who talked about desire to get jobs in Korean companies.
About 19 percent said they learn Korean out of curiosity about Korea and its language while 15.8 percent mentioned a desire to study in Korea as their reasons.
Out of the 2,089 respondents, 95.4 percent expressed satisfaction over the Korean language courses provided by the academy, up 2.1 percent from last year’s 93.3 percent. Also 60.7 percent cited the need to include more programs to enable them experience Korean culture, showing the growing interests in the Korean wave among foreigners.
The ministry and the institute plan to take measures to enhance the level of education about Korea and Korean culture in response to the results of the survey.