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Wed, February 1, 2023 | 04:37
Sejong Institute withdrawal to leave Cia-Cia out in cold
찌아찌아族 '세종학당' 철수…한글 보급 위기
Posted : 2012-10-08 19:02
Updated :  
Yi Whan-woo
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By Yi Whan-woo

A Korean teaching institute in Indonesia that taught the Korean alphabet or Hangeul to a small tribe using an aboriginal language has shut down.

The King Sejong Institute said Monday that it withdrew from Bau-Bau, a city located on the island of Buton, after a year-long operation.

The decision raises concerns that the Cia-Cia, an Indonesian ethnic minority that adopted the Korean alphabet to transcribe its native language, may suffer from the lack of a proper writing system.

The Cia-Cia chose to use Hangeul as its official writing system in 2009 to preserve its spoken language. It was the first case of Hangeul being used by an ethnic group abroad. And the King Sejong Institute under the International Korean Language Foundation set up an office to teach the Korean alphabet to the 60,000 tribal population that lives in Bau-Bau.

The institute dispatched a Korean teacher from Kyungpook National University under a one-year agreement with the foundation to educate the Cia-Cia.

The effort faced extreme difficulties stemming from a lack of financial support from both the Korean and Indonesian governments as well as cultural differences between the two countries, according to a university official.

“The office opened in September 2011 but we were not able to teach students until Jan. 30 this year because of financial problems,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.

The King Sejong Institute has a total of 90 branch offices across the world. And while a number of countries, including the United States and China, offer instructors with Korean-language teaching certificates in, it was not the case in Indonesia, according to the official.

“There was only one instructor from Kyungpook University who had to manage all the work with a little help from an Indonesian assistant from a local university,” he said.

“What made the education process more difficult was cultural differences between the teacher and the students, on which I will not go into details because I don’t want to offend the Cia-Cia tribe.”

Neither the instructor, surnamed Jeong, nor officials at the foundation dealing with the shutdown of the office could be reached for comment.

The group of scholars at the Hunminjeongeum Society, an organization that studies Hangeul, finished writing a new textbook edition for intermediate-level students learning Korean.

“We’re afraid our efforts to teach our language around the world will become useless in Indonesia,” a scholar said. The organization has provided the textbooks since the Bau-Bau office opened.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has taken part in global Korean-language education. It said it is seeking other universities in the country to help King Sejong Institute reopen its office in Indonesia.

찌아찌아族 '세종학당' 철수…한글 보급 위기
2009년 한글을 공식 표기 문자로 도입했던 인도네시아의 소수민족 찌아찌아족 거주지에서 한국어 교육기관과 현지 유일의 한국인 교사가 모두 철수한 것으로 확인됐다. 8일 훈민정음학회와 문화체육관광부, 경북대에 따르면 인도네시아 술라웨시주 부톤섬 바우바우시에서 운영되던 한국어 교육기관 ‘세종학당’이 지난 8월31일 모두 철수했다. 세종학당은 문화부와 한국어세계화재단이 세계 각지에 설립하는 한국어 교육기관이다. 바우바우시 학당은 경북대와 인도네시아 무함마디아 부톤대의 협력으로 지난 1월 말 개원했다. 그러나 세종학당 운영 과정에서 경북대가 재정적인 어려움을 겪고 바우바우시 측과 오해를 빚다가 7개월 만에 철수한 것으로 알려졌다. 올해 초 세종학당에 강사로 파견됐던 한국인 교사 정덕영 씨(51·사진 가운데)도 귀국, 현지에는 한국어를 가르칠 교사가 없다. 찌아찌아족은 독자적 언어는 갖고 있지만 문자가 없어 고유어를 잃을 처지에 놓였다가 2009년 훈민정음학회의 건의로 한글을 표기 문자로 도입하고 학회가 만든 교과서를 써왔다. 이후 서울시가 바우바우시와 문화예술 교류·협력을 위한 의향서를 체결하고 문화부가 세종학당을 세웠지만, 재정적 어려움과 문화적 갈등 등으로 줄곧 난항을 겪어온 것으로 알려졌다. 경북대 관계자는 “정부 지원이 없는 상황에서 7개월 동안 학교돈 7000만원을 썼는데 더 이상 부담은 어려워 철수하게 됐다”고 말했다. 한글 수용을 주도했던 아미룰 타밈 바우바우 시장도 12월 임기를 마치게 돼 향후 공식 표기 문자로서의 한글 위상도 타격을 입을 것으로 보인다. 한글 수입은 바우바우시가 중앙정부와 의견 교환 없이 단독으로 결정한 사안이다. 서강대 동아연구소 송승원 교수는 “한글 사용은 타밈 시장이 추진하고 있는 지역발전 패키지의 일환으로 기획됐기 때문에 전폭적인 지지를 받아왔지만 그의 임기가 끝난 후에도 한글 열기가 지속될 수 있을지는 미지수”라고 말했다. 그는 지난해 ‘인도네시아 찌아찌아족의 한글 수입의 정치·사회적 배경 분석’이라는 논문을 통해 한국과의 교류가 바우바우에 경제적 이익을 가져다주지 못하면 한글 사용 열기는 사그라질 수 있다고 예측한 바 있다. 문화부 관계자는 “경북대를 대신해 세종학당을 맡을 다른 대학을 물색하고 있다”며 “현지 한국어 강사 양성 프로그램 등을 체계적으로 운영할 수 있는 대학을 이른 시일 내에 선정해 다시 운영할 계획”이라고 말했다. 이날 문화부 국정감사에서도 세종학당에 대한 예산 지원이 부족하고 교재와 교사 자질이 떨어진다는 지적이 여야의원들 사이에서 잇달아 나왔다.
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