Mr. Choi Jae Jin, Chief Representative of the Korea Foundation Hanoi Office (KF) at the working session with Trung Vuong University. (Photo: Bui Dinh)

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Viet Anh, Trung Vuong University’s Vice President said that in the context of increasing demand for Korean language human resources, Trung Vuong University established the Faculty of Korean Language and Culture in November 2022. The University expects that in this first enrollment year, the school will enroll about 100 students in the Korean Language Department.

It is known that in addition to students specializing in Korean language, the University also has students who are studying in other faculties at the school and choose Korean as their second language. The University also has plan to develop the Faculty of Korean Language and Culture as a key faculty in the school's development strategy.

For his part, Mr. Choi Jae Jin said the Korean Foundation’s relationship with Vietnam has taken place through the support for teaching Korean language at universities since 1994. Up to now, there have been 53 universities and colleges in Vietnam teaching Korean language with the support from Korean Foundation in the field of Korean studies. Trung Vuong University is the 54th school that KF provides with assistance in teaching Korean language.

Currently, Vietnam is the 2nd country, after the US, receiving a lot of support projects from KF in the field of Korean studies. KF has more than 10 fields of cooperation with Vietnam, such as sending Korean teachers to Vietnam and vice versa, assigning professors, providing with scholarships for students to study in Korea, funding study materials, building "Korean corner" in schools, connecting Korean businesses in Vietnam to provide job opportunities for new graduates, ect.

Mr. Choi Jae Jin, representatives of Trung Vuong University and the Faculty of Korean Language and Culture take a group photo. (Photo: Huy Linh)

Since 2022, as the Vietnam- Republic of Korea relationship has been upgraded to the comprehensive strategic partnership, Korean businesses have continuously invested in Vietnam. There are currently about 9,500 Korean businesses and organizations operating in Vietnam. Therefore, the demand and job opportunities for Korean language students are expanding.

The demand for Korean language human resources is also increasing in both quality and quantity, said Mr. Choi Jea Jin. Most of the students who graduated from universities are able to get job, even having a job while they were still in school. In the context of expanding of Korean labor market, for Korean-speaking students, going to Korea is an opportunity that is not difficult to realize, according to Mr. Choi.

In the context of increasing demand for learning Korean language, there is still a shortage of Korean language teachers. Therefore, the Korean Foundation support in improving the quality of teaching at Korean faculties and sending volunteer lecturers from Korea to universities to teach every year, as well as support in providing with many projects to train teachers with specialized expertise of Korean language pedagogy are practical activities. And, this support is also one of the effective activities of people-to-people diplomacy between the two countries, stressed the Chief Representative of Korean Foundation Hanoi Office.