The first King Sejong Institute Center in the Middle East will open in the United Arab Emirates city of Sharjah. Shown are students making crafts in a cultural course at the Dubai branch of King Sejong Institute. (Official Facebook page of King Sejong Institute in Dubai)
By Israa Mohamed
The first King Sejong Institute Center (KSIC) in the Middle East will open in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) third-largest city of Sharjah.
The King Sejong Institute Foundation on March 26 said the KSIC will be within the University of Sharjah and begin operations after its opening ceremony next month.
As a regional headquarters for promoting the Korean language and culture, a KSIC is the base for related education and training as well as retraining of teachers and supports educational institutions in the host country.
The fifth of its kind after those in Vietnam (opened in 2017), Indonesia (2017), the U.S. (2018) and France (2021), the KSIC in the UAE was stipulated in a memorandum of understanding signed in June last year between the foundation and the Sharjah municipal government to promote the Korean language and culture in the Mideast country.
The UAE has three branches of the King Sejong Institute in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ajman. Additionally, the United Arab Emirates University offers a bachelor’s in Korean, while the Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi and Zayed University in Dubai offer Korean-language courses.
ess8@korea.kr
