Adding Korean language and
culture to Haiti’s future
GLOBAL SAE-A CEO and Vice Chairman
Kim Ki-myeong

GLOBAL SAE-A Group is ‘sincere’ in its social contribution activities. We met with Vice Chairman Kim Ki-myeong of GLOBAL SAE-A, who established the SAE-A school in Haiti, which was devastated by the great earthquake, to nurture future leaders of Haiti, and even opened the King Sejong Institute in Caracol to spread Korean language and culture.

Hello, Vice Chairman Kim Ki-myeong. Thank you for responding to the interview. First of all, please introduce yourself and GLOBAL SAE-A Group.

GLOBAL SAE-A Group is a holding company established around its parent company, SAE-A Trading, the world's largest clothing manufacturing and exporting company. This company is a large Korean conglomerate that owns fabric production company Wintex, yarn production company SAE-A Spinning, fashion companies IndieF and S&A, cardboard/paper packaging company Taerim, No. 1 overseas high-end construction company Ssangyong Engineering & Construction, global EPC company SAE-A STX Entech, Balmax Technology, food and beverage company Taebum, and culture and arts company S2A, and other companies.
GLOBAL SAE-A has established the ‘Vision 2025’ goal of developing into a group with sales of KRW 10 trillion and operating profit of KRW 1 trillion, focusing on the textile/fashion, construction, paper/packaging, food/beverage, and culture/art sectors. And by establishing the group mission of ‘To Help People Experience the Best of Life’, we are preparing for a new leap forward toward becoming a 100-year company.
I have served as the head of Walmart Korea, the CEO of IndieF, and the head of the U.S. branch of SAE-A Trading, and have been serving as the CEO of GLOBAL SAE-A since 2016.

GLOBAL SAE-A has established the SAE-A Foundation under the slogan, ‘The more you wear SAE-A, the more SAE-A shares’ and is actively engaging in social contribution activities. As a representative example, you are operating ‘SAE-A School’ in Haiti. It is impressive that you are not just providing supplies, but are establishing and operating a ‘school’. How was SAE-A School established?

When everyone was ignoring Haiti, a small island nation in the Caribbean that was devastated by an earthquake in 2010, GLOBAL SAE-A created an industrial complex together with the U.S. State Department and the Haitian government. And we established ‘SAE-A School(S&H School)’ and have been providing free education in kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school for over 10 years. Education is the foundation of national development and the most reliable investment for the future. Our country also went through many difficulties, but through the power of education, we made the Republic of Korea what it is today. Just as missionaries built schools and hospitals in Korea, which led to today's Pai Chai Academy and Severance Hospital, GLOBAL SAE-A established SAE-A School with the idea that what Haiti needed most was educational facilities.

SAE-A School was built nearby with support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) when SAE-A Trading established a textile factory in the Caracol Industrial Complex in northern Haiti in 2012. At that time, there was no sustainable school management system in Haiti. In September 2013, SAE-A School, which started with kindergarten and elementary school courses, has expanded to middle and high schools, and currently has a total of 700 students studying with 100% free education.
At the SAE-A School, which has the best educational facilities in Haiti, students learn English, French, and Spanish, including their native language Creole, as regular subjects, and are educated in a variety of subjects encompassing pure and practical studies subjects. The SAE-A School is the only school in Haiti that provides free lunch. In addition, the SAE-A School established the Caracol King Sejong Institute in 2018 to teach Korean, and with the help of sponsoring companies, also operates a taekwondo and orchestra team, making it a top-tier school in Haiti.

More than 10 years have passed since the school opened, and the first students who entered the school graduated from high school last year. I sincerely hope that these children will become leaders responsible for Haiti's future, eradicating poverty and violence in Haiti and developing its economy and politics.

In 2017, GLOBAL SAE-A signed a business agreement (MOU) with the King Sejong Institute Foundation and began operating the Caracol King Sejong Institute together in 2018. Why did the SAE-A School start Korean language education by opening the King Sejong Institute with the foundation rather than holding Korean language classes on its own?

GLOBAL SAE-A was operating the SAE-A School in Caracol, northern Haiti, which was devastated by a major earthquake, and providing free education through the highest level of curriculum and teachers for local children who had little opportunity to learn. In the meantime, we decided that the SAE-A School also needed expertise and a system to promote Korean language and culture.

Coincidentally, I heard from an official in charge of foreign affairs that people can learn Korean overseas at a place called ‘King Sejong Institute.’ So, we signed a business agreement with the King Sejong Institute Foundation and began Korean language education at ‘King Sejong Institute, Caracol’ within SAE-A School. Caracol King Sejong Institute receives support such as curriculum design, textbook support, and dispatch of Korean language teachers like a regular King Sejong Institute, but its unique feature is that it is a ‘collaborative King Sejong Institute’ that does not receive subsidies and is operated with the budget of GLOBAL SAE-A, the operating organization.
Therefore, GLOBAL SAE-A is in charge of the educational facilities and operation of the Caracol King Sejong Institute through the SAE-A School, and the King Sejong Institute Foundation dispatches professional Korean language teachers to the Caracol King Sejong Institute and provides Korean language teaching materials.

Vice Chairman, you attended the SAE-A School graduation ceremony in last September, which was held for the first time in 10 years since the school was opened. How did you feel when you toured the Caracol King Sejong Institute in person? Please tell us about the operation status of the Caracol King Sejong Institute.

The students who were children when the SAE-A School first opened are now adults. When the graduates entered the graduation ceremony to the song ‘To Sir With Love’, it touched my heart. We emphasize to the SAE-A School students that they study with the mindset that ‘we are the future of Haiti’ and that they repay the benefits of this free education by becoming leaders of Haiti. It was very gratifying to think that the Sae-A School had begun producing the future leaders of Haiti.

At the Caracol King Sejong Institute, Principal Choi Soon-ok serves as the dean of the institute, and dispatched teacher Choi Yu-rim also serves as the operating staff. As of the first semester of 2024, 46 learners are taking the course, all of whom are the SAE-A School students. Although there are not many students taking classes because students must first study other languages that are realistically necessary, SAE-A School treats Korean as important enough to include Korean language subjects in regular classes. Starting in February of this year, after-school classes also started. Students taking Korean language classes are very interested in Korea and they like K-pop and K-dramas.
So far, Caracol King Sejong Institute has been providing Korean language classes for students attending SAE-A School or local workers at SAE-A Trading, but this year, in order to expand its scope of activities, it is also discussing giving lectures at nearby universities. Although SAE-A School was established with the goal of ‘cultivating leaders in Haiti,’ collaboration with the King Sejong Institute Foundation can be said to have played a major role in being able to also serve the role of promoting Korea.

There are many learners at the King Sejong Institutes around the world who, after learning Korean, are trying to achieve their dreams by studying abroad in Korea or getting a job at a Korean company. Are there students at the Caracol King Sejong Institute who have dreams or are planning careers related to Korea?

Most of the learners at the Caracol King Sejong Institute are very interested in Korean culture, as they want to taste Korean food and, like teenagers, want to go to concerts of idols they are interested in. There are many students who study Korean by watching Korean dramas.
If the King Sejong Institute learners get jobs at Korean companies like GLOBAL SAE-A or achieve results by studying abroad in Korea, it will have a positive influence on their juniors. It seems like this is something that King Sejong Institute needs to think a lot about. In addition, it is important to ensure that Korean language teachers are constantly dispatched to King Sejong Institutes with poor conditions, such as Caracol King Sejong Institute, so that learners can continue to receive classes. If it is difficult to dispatch new teachers, an alternative may be to prepare a plan to renew the contracts with existing teachers.

Has there been any change in the status and level of interest in Korean language and culture in the region after SAE-A School and King Sejong Institute were established in Caracol? Are there any programs or benefits unique to GLOBAL SAE-A for these people?

GLOBAL SAE-A's production corporation opened in the Caracol Industrial Complex, contributing greatly to job creation, and SAE-A School provides free education, provides free lunch, and also provides arts and physical education, making it popular among parents. I heard that more than 140 students have already submitted applications for next year's new student intake, which is limited to 50 people.
As the Caracol King Sejong Institute was established and Korean language classes were also provided, interest in Korean culture in the Caracol region increased. Students are directly or indirectly exposed to Korean culture by communicating with the institute director and teachers dispatched from Korea. The director and teachers of Caracol King Sejong Institute work with pride as educators and public relations ambassadors for the Republic of Korea.

SAE-A School produced its first batch of graduates last year. In the future, GLOBAL SAE-A is considering to provide excellent learners of King Sejong Institute with opportunities of Korean language training in Korea and study abroad in Korea after their graduation to produce talents who can serve as a bridge between GLOBAL SAE-A and Haiti, and further between Korea and Haiti.

GLOBAL SAE-A, which operates more than 50 local corporations overseas, is carrying out social contribution activities not only in Haiti but also in various countries. In 2022, the company also received the ‘Social Contribution Company Award’ from the Korea Economic Daily. Please tell us what kind of social contribution activities GLOBAL SAE-A is carrying out in addition to SAE-A School, and where do you find the rewards and results of social contribution activities.

Through the 'SAE-A Foundation' established in 2015, GLOBAL SAE-A is contributing greatly to the revitalization of local communities and economic development by carrying out activities such as donating daily necessities and clothing, providing donations to the needy, providing scholarships, and planting trees in all countries where the company operates. A representative example is the SAE-A School education project in Haiti, where in addition to education projects, we also provided hygiene kits to prevent infectious diseases and provided large-scale medical services.

In particular, Sae-A Trading, together with Ssangyong Engineering & Construction and the international NGO ‘CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort)’, provides winter clothing and bedding to the Ukrainian people on the front lines of the war, creating shared value through global win-win management. In Vietnam, the company operates child protection facilities, supports children in sisterhood relationships, helps disadvantaged neighbors, and holds events for children from single-parent families. In Indonesia, the company conducts regular visits to slums and lunch box sharing activities, and in Nicaragua, the company carries out a tree-planting campaign and donates clothing and masks to government agencies. Like these, the company is carrying out various social contribution activities.
SAE-A Trading strives to contribute to the development of the international community by instilling strong trust as a leading partner through active participation and cooperation on environmental and human rights issues, and by further solidifying global citizenship in all countries where the company operates.

Taerim Packaging also follows the motto of ‘Leading ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Management’, and all executives and employees are actively carrying out volunteer work and product sponsorship in the local community, keeping in mind the meaning of ‘sharing love’. In particular, about 500 executives and employees participate every year in the plogging campaign, which involves an activity of picking up trash while walking or jogging, and the company is evaluated as leading the practice of ESG management in the industry.

Lastly, please tell us about the operation and development plans of Caracol King Sejong Institute as it approaches its 10th anniversary.

I think Caracol King Sejong Institute is still in its infancy stage. As mentioned earlier, the priority is to have teachers stably dispatched to provide continuous classes. Afterwards, students who learn the basics of Korean at Caracol King Sejong Institute and graduate will advance to nearby universities. In order to provide continuous Korean language learning opportunities, Korean language may be established as a liberal arts subject in conjunction with universities. Furthermore, there would be nothing more to wish for if a ‘Korean language department’ were established in a local university in Haiti.