Culture crucial to learning Korean

Colombian students of the Bogota King Sejong Institute pose while wearing hanbok, or traditional Korean dress, during the institute’s first Korean Cultural Day in Bogota, Colombia, May 22. / Courtesy of Bogota King Sejong Institute

King Sejong Institute plans to offer more cultural programs

Cho Jung-yoon, teacher at the Bogota King Sejong Institute in Colombia

Cho Youn-chu, teacher at the Surabaya King Sejong Institute in Indonesia

By Chung Hyun-chae

The booming Korean wave, or hallyu, has prompted some Indonesians to rush to learn the Korean language and culture, according to a Korean teacher.

“Riding on the wave of hallyu, Indonesians, particularly young students, have come to us to learn how to read Korean subtitles while watching Korean dramas,” Cho Youn-chu, who teaches Korean at the Surabaya King Sejong Institute in Surabaya, the third-largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, told The Korea Times.

“Most noticeable is that the students, who came as fans of hallyu and K-pop bands, have become interested in Korean culture, people and the nation itself,” Cho said, adding that many of them dream of getting jobs and living in Korea.

She visited Korea to attend the eighth World Korean Educators Conference held by the King Sejong Institute Foundation, from July 12 to 15. The foundation was set up in 2012 to support the operation of the institute abroad.

About 100 teachers from 77 King Sejong Institute branches in 34 countries participated in the conference along with 230 local educators.

The King Sejong Institute is a government-funded Korean language institute for foreigners. The institute operates a total of 143 branches in 57 countries.

The Surabaya branch was established last year as the third such institute in Indonesia. The other two are in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and Makassar, the fifth-largest city in eastern Indonesia.

“Having a strong desire to go to Korea, students actively participate in culture classes,” Cho said.

Cho Youn-chu, right, Korean teacher at the Surabaya King Sejong Institute in Indonesia, shows Korean food with participants of the institute’s first Korean Cultural Day, May 20. / Courtesy of Surabaya King Sejong Institute

She said she had her students experience jjimjilbang, a Korean-style sauna, and noraebang, a karaoke bar, during culture classes on Korean leisure activities.

Cho gave a class about the Korean mass transit system.

“I was surprised that the students were interested in Korea’s public transportation system as they have never experienced such a convenient system in Indonesia,” Cho said. “I just felt that the students really want to go to Korea.”

In contrast to Indonesia, Colombia is often considered to be a sparse land for hallyu where not many people are interested in Asian culture. But understanding Korean culture is also key to learning the Korean language.

“Given these circumstances, friction frequently occurs between native and Korean workers (at Korean-invested businesses) due to cultural differences,” Cho Jung-yoon, a Korean teacher at the Bogota King Sejong Institute in the capital of Colombia, told The Korea Times.

The most urgent task facing the institute is to promote Korea and its culture in Colombia so that it can contribute to resolving cultural misunderstandings there.

“I believe we can play a positive role in reducing the cultural gap,” said Cho, who also attended the conference.

According to Cho, the institute plans to open a business Korean program in the autumn and will offer workers at four to five local companies lectures on cultural differences between Latin American countries and Asian countries.

In 2013, the institute signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Police of Colombia, which is controlled by the Ministry of Defense.

Under the accord, about 20 selected officers have taken a two-month special program given by the Bogota King Sejong Institute every year.

“Our ultimate goal is to nurture pro-Korean experts,” Cho added.

Leading the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc launched in 2012, Colombia has become interested in exchanges with the Asia-Pacific nations including Korea and China.

In response to the growing interest in Asian cultures, the Bogota King Sejong Institute has been strengthening its culture classes.

“For example, we run a class in which students from the Korea National University of Arts teach our students Gangryeong Talchum, one of Korea’s traditional mask dances,” Cho said.

The traditional mask dance originated from Gangryeong in Hwanghae Province, North Korea.

Sending experts to King Sejong Institute branches in other countries is part of its efforts to boost Korean culture overseas since 2013

“We have put an emphasis on culture especially since the start of this year,” said Jeong Yu-been, spokeswoman of the King Sejong Institute Foundation. “We will make further efforts to offer more programs to promote Korean culture in more countries.”