The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is collaborating with the King Sejong Institute Foundation to launch a free online Korean language education platform (iksi.or.kr/co/seoul.do) targeting more than 440,000 foreign residents living in Seoul as well as foreign nationals wishing to immigrate over the course of six months starting on Fri, Jul. 1.

Oral Korean proficiency is essential for foreign residents to live a stable life in Korea, such as foreign workers and marriage migrants. As such, the city currently provides support for Korean language education at foreigner support centers, including the Southwest Seoul Global Center, seven Global Village Centers, six Global Migrant Centers, and 25 district family centers. Information on courses and schedules is available online via the Seoul Foreigner Portal (global.seoul.go.kr).

However, although in-person education is advantageous as it facilitates effective learning, the city recognized the need for an online education platform as not many can visit these centers due to the pandemic and their employment conditions.

Therefore, the newly launched “Seoul x Online King Sejong Institute” platform will facilitate more opportunities for self-study to allow foreign residents who have difficulty taking classes in person to study Korean anytime and anywhere using their smartphone or computer.

The platform features three educational programs—Cyber Korean, Korean for Foreign Workers, and K-Wave Korean—and the courses are available for free to anyone who signs up for membership.

After six months of pilot operation, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the King Sejong Institute Foundation plan to build a more comprehensive cooperative relationship and expand educational content on the platform to offer a wider range of services, such as online proofreading.

Seoul will continue to operate Korean language education programs across its wide array of foreigner support centers as well as provide online education through the online platform to provide an effective Korean language learning environment to foreign residents.