2020 World Korean Educators Conference Was Successfully Held

Held for 3 days from December 9th to 11th, in a format combining contact and non-contact ways
80 participants including the KSI teachers and officials from other Korean language education institutions in Korea

The 2020 World Korean Educators Conference was successfully held.

The King Sejong Institute Foundation (KSIF) held the “2020 World Korean Educators Conference” at Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjan-dong, Seoul, for three days from December 9th to 11th. This year, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, teachers from King Sejong Institutes (KSIs) abroad attended in a non-contact way, and only 80 officials from national Korean language education institutions attended in person.

The World Korean Educators Conference is an event hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the KSIF. It is a training event that invites Korean language teachers overseas to Korea to improve their expertise in Korean language and culture education. Since 2009, the event has been held annually.

The 2020 World Korean Educators Conference was held under the theme of “Non-contact Korean Language and Culture Education in the Era of COVID-19”. At the opening ceremony on the first day, which began with the opening remarks of Kang Hyounhwa, the President of KSIF, Oh Youngwoo, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism attended to give a congratulatory speech, and singer Park Jung-hyun gave a congratulatory performance.

During the presentations on the first day after the opening ceremony, 380 teachers in Korea and abroad participated to share their experiences of non-contact Korean language education experiences in the COVID-19 situation. KSI Montevideo, Argentine Korean Institute, Ansan Wongok Elementary School, and KSI Brussels shared their experiences. On the second day, special lectures related to non-contact Korean language education, teaching practice of non-contact Korean language education, and class demonstrations were conducted by experts. On the last day, training programs were offered where the teachers could learn how to teach foreign learners Korean cultures, such as Hanbok, Korean paper, calligraphy, and crafts.

In the 2020 World Korean Educators Conference, not only teachers at KSIs but also Korean language teachers at elementary, middle, and high schools in Korea and multicultural centers under the local government participated. Also, it attracted attention as many teachers from external institutes including Korean schools in foreign countries participated in this year’s event.

Kang Hyounhwa, the President of KSIF said, “The conference this year seems to have become a place for a gathering of Korean language educators around the world on a large scale, as Korean language teachers from various organizations other than KSIs have attended. We will continue to expand opportunities for educators from external institutions to participate in training programs provided by KSIF”.

All programs of the 2020 World Korean Educators Conference can be viewed again for free by searching for “2020 World Korean Educators Conference” on YouTube.

▲ Non-contact participants and some major guests at the 2020 World Korean Educators Conference

▲ Professor Seo Jinsook at Kyung Hee Cyber University is giving a special lecture

▲ A participant of the 2020 World Korean Educators Conference is looking through the textbooks of the KSIF.