The Culture Ministry and International Korean Language Foundation jointly plan to open 10 more Korean language school branches in nine different countries starting this September, the ministry announced on Monday.

Sejong Hakdang (The King Sejong Institute), the government-run Korean language program located in foreign schools and institutions, currently has 28 branches in 16 different countries. Last year, a total of 7,780 people across the globe attended Sejong Hakdang classes to learn the Korean language.

The ministry has selected 10 more foreign institutions among the 42 organizations that have applied for the launch of Sejong Hakdang classes on their property.

The selected overseas institutions are: University of Marne-la-Vallee of France; Shandong University of China; Khon Kaen University of Thailand; Pacific National University of Economics of Russia; University of Social Science and Humanities, Hanoi of Vietnam; Hanoi National University’s college of foreign languages of Vietnam; Tribuban University of Nepal; Brac University of Bangladesh; Tashkent Korean School in Uzbekistan; and National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia.

Kim Hye-ju, deputy director of Korean Language Policy Division of the culture ministry, said the ministry plans to publish their new, Sejong Hakdang-exclusive textbooks by the end of July and distribute them to all its branches by September.

“We are trying to have all reading, speaking and writing materials in one book,” Kim told The Korea Herald. “Till now, there were three separate books for each learning category, and for many branches it wasn’t very effective as they only held one or two classes a week. So some branches have developed their own teaching materials and used them as their textbooks. But from this September, every branch will have the same official textbooks to use.”

The ministry and International Korean Language Foundation are also running certificate programs for Sejong Hakdang teachers who are already hired but have not received proper teaching education. “Our goal is to certify all of the already-hired teachers by the year 2015,” Kim said. “From then on, we are planning to only hire teachers with certification in Korean language teaching.”

Aside from the newly opening branches, the ministry plans to open five “special” Sejong Hakdang classes in Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Cambodia for people who wish or plan to work in Korea.

“These classes are for them to learn Korean language and culture before they arrive in Korea,” the ministry said in a statement. “This program has been jointly planned by both the culture ministry and Ministry of Employment and Labor.”

Currently, each Sejong Hakdang branch gives out its own certificate after students finish the courses. “We are discussing about developing official certificate programs for all Sejong Hakdang students,” deputy director Kim said. “But we don’t have any details planned out yet.”

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)