Sejong Hakdang (King Sejong Institute)
Encyclopedia
Sejonghakdang is a brand name that the Korean government launched in order to comprehensively provide Korean
(Hangul
: 한글) learners and teachers with the integrated study information service. "Sejonghakdang" is expected to be developed as one brand that indicates Korean-learning or -teaching institutes around the world. Sejong(Hangul
: 세종) is the fourth King of the Joseon Dynasty
of Korea
who created the Korean alphabet in 1446 and Hakdang(Hangul
: 학당) means educational institutes in Korean language
.
, the Korean alphabet, is a Korean official language and has been long used by Koreans since its creation in 1446 by Sejong the Great of Joseon Dynasty
. The users of Hangul
were usually Koreans in and outside Korea. So the most Hangul
learning institutions outside Korea targeted second or third generation of Korean immigrants while inside Korea students were mostly foreign students, immigrants, or interracial marriage family members, which were minorities of Korean society.
, musics more easily and the numbers of intermarriage families and foreign students studying in Korea has rapidly grown thanks to globalization. As a very exceptional case, the Cia-Cia tribe in Bau-Bau city located in Buton, off Indonesia
`s southeast peninsula Sulawesi, has recently adopted Hangul
as its official writing system, which shows the possibility that hangul
can help people without their own alphabet system in having their writing system fit to their spoken language.
Also, As international cooperation and businesses are getting enhanced, the Korean government itself has realized that it is essential to standardize the names of locations, people, and other proper nouns in Hangul
. And as the Korean dictionaries were mostly made during 1990s which is about 20 years ago, the need for easy and convenient Korea dictionaries was required.
. The Sehonghakdang will be developed as the brand
commonly used by all Korean language education institutes. The Korean government has recently launched its homepage at http://www.sejonghakdang.org in Korean and English
.
and the shape on the left shoulder of ㅎ means the name and the initial of each city where the institute locates. The example here is Sejonghakdang in Seoul (Hangul
: 서울), having 'ㅅ' on the left shoulder which indicates the first Korean alphabet of '서울.'
institute.
The Korean government also plans on establishing 60 institutes by the year 2012. Up-to-date 19 institutes have been established in countries such as Vietnam
, Thailand
, Singapore
, Indonesia
, Cambodia
, United Arab Emirates
and Saudi Arabia
, and by 2011 45 Sejonghakdang is to be established.
The "Sejonghakdang" headquarters office is to be established between 2010 and 2011 to systematically support the institutes around the world. The office is expected to be a focal point that connects the institutes around the world.
learners and teachers. It is a Korean study website built jointly by various ministries within the Korean government which includes the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Justice, and National Institute of the Korean Language, National Institute for International Education, The Overseas Koreans Foundation and International Korean Language Foundation with Presidential Council on Nation Branding as the main contributor.
Nuri-Sejonghakdang has the three-step plan from 2009 to 2011 as below.
Nuri-Sejonghakdang provides its service to Korean language
institutes which distribute Korean language throughout the world as well as foreigners who wish to learn the Korean language, and teachers and future teachers who wish to teach the Korean language. It is still collecting and developing its contents to expand the online study courses and building multi-language versions of the website for users all around the world. The multi-language version is to be completed by end of 2010.
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
(Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 한글) learners and teachers with the integrated study information service. "Sejonghakdang" is expected to be developed as one brand that indicates Korean-learning or -teaching institutes around the world. Sejong(Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 세종) is the fourth King of the Joseon Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
of Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
who created the Korean alphabet in 1446 and Hakdang(Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 학당) means educational institutes in Korean language
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
.
Hangul in the Past
HangulHangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
, the Korean alphabet, is a Korean official language and has been long used by Koreans since its creation in 1446 by Sejong the Great of Joseon Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
. The users of Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
were usually Koreans in and outside Korea. So the most Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
learning institutions outside Korea targeted second or third generation of Korean immigrants while inside Korea students were mostly foreign students, immigrants, or interracial marriage family members, which were minorities of Korean society.
Rapid Growth in Demand on Hangul
However, as a technology has been rapidly developed and the number of cultural exchanges and business relations among countries has increased, more and more foreigners get interested in Korean language. Through internet, foreigners could get touch with Korean culture such as dramasKorean drama
Korean drama refers to televised dramas, in a miniseries format, produced in the Korean language. Many of these dramas have become popular throughout Asia and have contributed to the general phenomenon of the Korean wave, known as "Hallyu", and also "Drama Fever" in some countries...
, musics more easily and the numbers of intermarriage families and foreign students studying in Korea has rapidly grown thanks to globalization. As a very exceptional case, the Cia-Cia tribe in Bau-Bau city located in Buton, off Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
`s southeast peninsula Sulawesi, has recently adopted Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
as its official writing system, which shows the possibility that hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
can help people without their own alphabet system in having their writing system fit to their spoken language.
Also, As international cooperation and businesses are getting enhanced, the Korean government itself has realized that it is essential to standardize the names of locations, people, and other proper nouns in Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
. And as the Korean dictionaries were mostly made during 1990s which is about 20 years ago, the need for easy and convenient Korea dictionaries was required.
Establishment of "Sejonghakdang"
With such demand, Korean government established the concept of 'Sejonghakdang' so as to provide integrated and standardised information and service for learning Korean language as well as to coordinate and expand the institutes where people can learn or teach HangulHangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
. The Sehonghakdang will be developed as the brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
commonly used by all Korean language education institutes. The Korean government has recently launched its homepage at http://www.sejonghakdang.org in Korean and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Symbol
Sejonghakdang had represented its symbol as shown. The shape <ㅎ> symbolize hangulHangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
and the shape on the left shoulder of ㅎ means the name and the initial of each city where the institute locates. The example here is Sejonghakdang in Seoul (Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 서울), having 'ㅅ' on the left shoulder which indicates the first Korean alphabet of '서울.'
Integration and Expansion of Hangul Institutes
The Korean government plans to integrate the Korean Language Institutes being called with various names into one brand "Sejonghakdang" by 2011. For a short-term strategy, the government is to encourage to use the name "Sejonghakdang" and the standard textbook and course, while reviewing a long-term strategy to run an integrated HangulHangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
institute.
The Korean government also plans on establishing 60 institutes by the year 2012. Up-to-date 19 institutes have been established in countries such as Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, and by 2011 45 Sejonghakdang is to be established.
The "Sejonghakdang" headquarters office is to be established between 2010 and 2011 to systematically support the institutes around the world. The office is expected to be a focal point that connects the institutes around the world.
Nuri-Sejonghakdang
Nuri-Sejonghakdang is a website providing a remote education system and integrated information service related to Korean language study for HangulHangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
learners and teachers. It is a Korean study website built jointly by various ministries within the Korean government which includes the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade may refer to:* New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade* Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade...
, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Justice, and National Institute of the Korean Language, National Institute for International Education, The Overseas Koreans Foundation and International Korean Language Foundation with Presidential Council on Nation Branding as the main contributor.
Nuri-Sejonghakdang has the three-step plan from 2009 to 2011 as below.
| Integration (2009) | Expansion (2010) | Spreading (2011) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| System |
|
|
|
| Contents |
|
|
|
| Operating Environment |
|
|
|
Nuri-Sejonghakdang provides its service to Korean language
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
institutes which distribute Korean language throughout the world as well as foreigners who wish to learn the Korean language, and teachers and future teachers who wish to teach the Korean language. It is still collecting and developing its contents to expand the online study courses and building multi-language versions of the website for users all around the world. The multi-language version is to be completed by end of 2010.