The hallyu effect: culture ministry vows to vitalize Korean language education

“Learn! Korean with BTS” package / Courtesy of Weverse Shop

By Kwak Yeon-soo

South Korea is making a strong bet on the country's mother tongue, riding on the overseas popularity of hallyu ― or the “Korean wave” of pop culture.

This doesn't come as a surprise because the government has already partnered with universities and K-pop agencies to promote the Korean language as a catalyst to spread Korean culture around the world.

In August, the Korean Foundation partnered with Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of BTS, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies to open a BTS-themed Korean-language course titled “Learn! Korean with BTS” at several overseas Korean-teaching universities starting in the 2020 fall semester.

The first schools adopting the course starting this fall are Middlebury College in the U.S., Ecole Normale Superieure and EDHEC Business School of France, Ain Shams University in Egypt and Vietnam's University of Languages & International Studies and Thang Long University.

As soon as “Learn! Korean with BTS” ― the Korean-language learning product comprised of four textbooks and a “sound pen” that plays back pronunciation of words and phrases ― was released on Aug. 24, it was sold out in 20 minutes in the U.S. and in three hours in Japan. It immediately went to a second printing.

The textbooks are designed for users who wish to learn Hangeul, basic words and phrases, and to familiarize themselves with Korea's regional traits and culture as introduced in BTS' music and videos, according to Big Hit Edu.

A BTS fan from India who purchased the textbook wrote on Twitter, “I'm so excited to start and I think I'm going to document my progress.”

International students take a Korean language class at King Sejong Institute in Seoul, in this photo provided by the King Sejong Institute Foundation, July 15. / Courtesy of King Sejong Institute Foundation

Korean is the 14th most widely used language in the world. About 77.3 million speakers are currently using Korean as their first language, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In 2019, the number of applicants for the state-run Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) surpassed 370,000, reaching an all-time high.

The culture ministry said it will spend 89.4 billion won ($75.3 million) by 2021 to vitalize Korean language education.

“We will work hard to establish Korean language as one of the important pillars of the Korean wave and promote the use of this glorious language across the globe,” Culture Minister Park Yang-woo said.

It will develop an online education platform and offer phone-based learning to give users easier access to Korean language education.

Also, along with sending more professional Korean language teachers abroad, the Korean government noted that the King Sejong Institute, the state-run Korean language institute operating overseas, will add 30 more institutes abroad. There are now 213 such institutes in 76 countries.

Starting 2021, it plans to create more jobs related to Korean language by nurturing quality translators for Korean films, webtoons and literature through related training courses.