Rabat – The King Sejong Institute, a center for promoting the Korean language and culture, opened in Morocco for the first time on September 13.
The Korean language institution is established inside Maru Cultural Center, Rabat, and aims to disseminate Korean culture and language through educational training programs and workshops.
The center’s newly opened branch has native teachers and offers in-person classes, online courses for beginner and intermediate levels, as well as classes for marriage-immigrants on Monday, Friday, and Saturday.
The fall semester is scheduled to start in September 2021, while the spring semester will begin in February 2022. The center is expected to host a decent number of students across Morocco.
The King Sejong Institute Foundation is a public institution affiliated with the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and one its main tasks is to manage overseas education and to extend Korean culture.
Earlier this year, Hwang Hee, the Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, met with the heads of the institute’s newly designated branches across the world. During the meeting, the Korean minister spoke about the importance of exporting the country’s culture to other parts of the world.
“Despite the difficult situation due to the prolonged pandemic, I’m delighted to have seen hotter global interest in Korea in the process of designating new branches of King Sejong Institute this year,” he said.
Founded in 2007 by the South Korean government, the institute has since opened different branches in various countries, reaching 234 branches in 2021.
It introduces South Korea’s language and culture to foreigners and endeavors to develop and sustain their interest for a better understanding of the history of the Korean peninsula.
According to South Korean authorities, the concept of the institute is to provide integrated and standardized information and service for learning the Korean language, with a focus on strengthening international cooperation with various countries.
With South Korea’s K-pop music conquering Morocco’s cultural scene, there are reports of an increasing shift from the American dream to the Korean dream. The idea being that many Moroccan devotees of Korean culture now aspire to excel in the language of their favorite pop stars to attend University in what is becoming many young Moroccans’ dream country.
Relations between South Korea and Morocco are nearly sixty years old, with the two countries signing their first diplomatic agreements in 1962.
South Korea’s embassy in Morocco was the first to be installed in the African continent.
Choi Jong-Kun, the Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited Morocco for the first time in August and expressed his country’s willingness to further relations with Rabat.
