Korea introduces its language, culture to local school
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
After successfully introducing various Korean products to Indonesia -- from cars to TVs -- South Korea is now encouraging state schools to teach its language.
Since March, Senior High School (SMA) No. 27 in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, has been holding Korean language classes every Monday and Thursday.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of facilities, only 40 of the 150 students who registered to participate in the program were actually able to take part.
"Our students enthusiastically welcomed the offer from the Korean Language Education Institute to provide them with free Korean lessons," deputy principal Zainal Arifin told The Jakarta Post recently.
The Korean language program in SMA 27 is jointly organized by the South Korean Embassy, the Seoul-based International Korean Language Foundation (IKLF), and the Korean Language Education Institute (LPBK).
The Korean Embassy's press and cultural attache, Kim Sang- Sool, said in his opening remarks to the launch of the program that it was an initial step to the introduction of the Korean language more generally to Indonesians.
Meanwhile, IKLF director Park Young-Soon said that the language program could serve as an entry point for Indonesians to learn more about Korean culture.
The director of the LPBK's education affairs division, Didin Samsudin, said that the LPBK and IKLF were currently discussing the launching of similar programs in other schools.
According to Didin, the program was a follow-up to a meeting between LPBK director Baek Chang-Hoon and the president of the Seoul-based National Academy of the Korean Language early in March.
"This Korean language program has received the strong backing of the South Korean government as it is part of the campaign to introduce the country's culture to Indonesia," Didin told the Post.
According to Didin, the shortage of Korean language teachers was the main constraint on the program.
He said there were only two universities here that offered a Korean literature courses -- the University of Indonesia and Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, with both courses having only started in 2002.
"After the universities produce graduates in Korean literature who can also serve as Korean language teachers, our problems will be solved," Didin said.
According to Zainal, the reasons why students wanted to take part in the program varied. But most of them believed that having Korean language skills would help them gain employment in Korean firms.
"Many of our students will not continue their studies at university because of financial constraints. Therefore, they hope that by learning Korean, they will be help to find jobs more quickly."
Zainal said that Korean was the third foreign language to be taught at the school after Arabic and English.