South Korea will dispatch some 340 teachers and university students to 16 developing countries in the latter half of this year to carry out educational programs, the government said Thursday.

The contingent will be made up of 140 teachers who will be stationed abroad for more than one year and 200 teacher trainees attending local teachers' colleges who will stay for a shorter period, according to the Ministry of Education and the National Institute for International Education Of the 140 long-term dispatches, some 133 reserve and active teachers will give classes on such topics as mathematics, Korean language, science and computers, while seven retired teachers will serve as advisors at the local educational organizations.

The teacher trainees, meanwhile, will conduct primary education programs and help take care of disadvantaged people in nine countries -- Tanzania, East Timor, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines.

According to the education ministry, the number of participants for this year will be the largest since the program was initiated in 2013.

South Korea has sent an average 20 teachers every year until last year, but the number of teachers this year increased due to the requests from the developing countries, a ministry official said. (Yonhap)