Paraguayan students pose for photos after writing calligraphy in Hangeul (Korean alphabet) in class. (Ministry of Education)

By Hong Angie

Middle and high school students in Paraguay can choose Korean as their second foreign language.

The Ministry of Education in Seoul on April 19 said it signed on March 22 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on bilateral cooperation in Korean-language education with the Paraguayan Ministry of Education and Sciences.

Under the agreement, Korean is now a regular option for a second foreign language at the South American country's middle and high schools. 

This move is expected to increase the number of Paraguayan schools offering Korean as a second foreign language because student grades in Korean will be certified when entering high school or university.

The MOU also laid the foundation for the self-sufficient supply and spread of Korean in the country, as graduates of Universidad Nacional de Educacion de Paraguay (National Education University of Paraguay) will be hired as teachers at schools offering Korean as a second foreign language.

Thanks to growing demand for Korean-language education, the ministry said the number of students of Korean at middle and high schools in Paraguay reached some 4,800 at 23 schools late last year, more than double the 2017 figure of around 1,900 at 16 schools. 

Korean-language classes are offered at the military academy Academia Militar, Universidad Columbia del Paraguay (University of Columbia in Paraguay), UNIDA (University of the Integration of the Americas) and the Paraguayan Ministry of National Defense, the ministry added.

As of last year, 23 countries offered Korean as a second foreign language and another 10 included Korean as a subject for college entrance.

Park Sung-min, director of the ministry's Office of Planning and Coordination, said, "Thanks to the spread of the Korean language in the South American region including Paraguay, we will see a bigger diversity of students going to Korea." 

shong9412@korea.kr