Korean language school to open in Sri Lanka

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) - A South Korean civic group said Thursday it will open
the country's first privately built overseas Korean language school in Sri Lanka.
The Global Charity Association (GCA) said it struck an agreement with the Sri
Lankan government to open a Korean language school for local residents near the
capital city of Colombo as part of its "Korea Wish School Project," a grant-aid
program that helps developing countries.
The language school will be the first such institution set up by a private
organization, according to Son Gwang-hun, the group's lawyer in charge of the
project. The South Korean government runs a program of volunteers who are
dispatched foreign schools to teach the Korean language.
"The Sri Lankan government's support to the project is meaningful," a GCA
official said, especially when the war-torn country had restricted activities by
nongovernmental organizations from abroad In August, Sri Lanka declared the end
of its on-and-off civil war that had continued for 26 years.
The group will send a team to Sri Lanka on Nov. 21 to choose the site of the
school and decide when to start construction and other details.
A minority tribe in Indonesia adopted Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, as its
official writing system in August, reflecting the language's growing popularity
abroad.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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