Hangul Day is a national holiday commemorating the invention of the Korean alphabet and by Sejong the Great who was the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty of Korea during the 15th century.
This holiday is celebrated on October 9th in South Korea, while in North Korea, the holiday is celebrated on January 15th and is called Chosŏn'gŭl Day.
Before the invention of the Korean alphabet, the people of Korea used classical Chinese, but since the creation of the Korean alphabet, great efforts have been made to teach it among the population and promote it even outside of Korea.
Since the 15th century, the Korean language seems to have become one of the most popular languages in the world with a consistent increase in the number of foreigners who study it.
According to data published by Modern Language Association, between 1958 and 2016, the number of students learning the Korean language in US educational institutions was increased by 53,500%! In other words, if in 1958 the number of students learning the Korean language was only 26 students, then in 2016, the number of students has already reached 15,072 students.
Today, the Korean language is ranked 11th as the most popular language in the world and the 14th most widely used language in the world. it seems that according to the growth rate of new students who study Korean language, the language may become even more popular in the coming years.
According to the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, about 77.3 million speakers are currently using Korean as their first language.
The common assumption among Korean government agencies is that foreign students around the world are learning the Korean language due to the successful distribution of Korean pop music, Korean TV dramas and in general, Korean culture or K-Wave.
However, according to a survey conducted in 2018, by Jang Seob Yoon and published in Statista, among those taking the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) test, about 44% said they learned Korean in order study in South Korea, compared to 14.5% who did so to understand the culture The Korean. In 2019, more than 370,000 took the test.
Well, before taking the next step and starting to learn the Korean language it is interesting to know that according to an article recently published by Emerald Catron, the Korean language is ranked third as one of the most difficult languages to learn for foreign students due to the difficulty in learning its pronunciation.
Based on the above data, our opinion is that the international demand for learning the Korean language will continue and with it also created business opportunities that can be realized in the near and long term.
We will add that the Korean government supports and is even involved in funding projects to promote the Korean language outside of Korea. According to Korean Ministry of Tourism, it will spend 89.4 billion won (about US $75.3 million) by 2021 in order to promote the Korean Language Education worldwide.
Beyond the traditional teaching method, distance learning systems and Edutech technologies are frequently used these days and it opens the door to technological collaborations in the field.
