By Hur SomEe and Kim Young Shin

The world will soon welcome six more King Sejong Institutes, the educational centers all around the globe that offer Korean language and traditional Korean arts classes.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on June 7 that the new King Sejong Institutes will open at Astrakhan State University in Astrakhan, Russia, at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind., in the U.S., at the University of Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain, at Nasional University in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the Yancheng Teachers University in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, in China, and at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The number of King Sejong Institutes worldwide will now be 177 in 58 countries and territories.

“Thanks to the support and interest from the Korean government and its citizens, the number of students at King Sejong Institutes worldwide increased to 49,549, which is 67 times bigger than it was 10 years ago,” said Song Hyang-keun, chairman of the King Sejong Institute Foundation.

sehp91@korea.kr