KF-BIGHIT-Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Jointly Promote Overseas Korean Language Education Project

‘Learn! KOREAN with BTS’ Adopted by Universities in the US, France, and Egypt

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] KF (Korea Foundation) announced on the 11th that it will carry out overseas Korean language education promotion projects by signing a business agreement with BigHit Edu, the educational independent corporation of BigHit Entertainment, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

KF, BigHit Edu, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies will hold a business agreement signing ceremony on the 12th at the KF Global Center in Suha-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, and will begin full-scale collaboration to activate overseas Korean language learning.

The three parties to this agreement will cooperate based on their respective expertise to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for Korean language education overseas while enhancing understanding of Korea and the Korean language.

Accordingly, starting from this fall semester, KF e-School Korean language courses using ‘Learn! KOREAN with BTS’ will be opened at prestigious overseas universities. ‘Learn! KOREAN with BTS’ is Korean language education content produced by BigHit Edu, designed to help global fans who enjoy K-pop music and content but face difficulties due to language barriers to learn Korean easily and enjoyably. It is structured to naturally acquire basic Hangul, fundamental expressions, and Korean culture by listening to and repeating frequently used expressions by the members, reconstructed from the content of the global superstar BTS.

‘Learn! KOREAN with BTS,’ developed and supervised by Professor Heo Yong’s research team (Korean Language Content Research Institute) at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, will be released as a book package on the 24th. Prior to this, BigHit Edu has been releasing educational videos under the same name, each about 3 minutes long, once a week since March through the global fan community platform Weverse.

Middlebury College in the United States, ?cole Normale Sup?rieure (ENS) and EDHEC Business School in France, Ain Shams University in Egypt, Hanoi National University of Foreign Studies and Thang Long University in Vietnam will open regular Korean language courses using ‘Learn! KOREAN with BTS’ this fall semester. KF, BigHit Edu, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies plan to expand the scope of the project.

Regarding this agreement, KF Director Lee Geun expressed expectations, saying, “With our content such as BTS leading K-pop and director Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ being recognized worldwide, interest in the Korean language has rapidly increased. The ‘Learn! KOREAN with BTS’ course introduced at this time will greatly contribute to further activating overseas Korean language learning and promoting the charm of our language and culture.”