On October 9, a meeting of NEFU Interim Rector Evgenia Mikhailova with the Consul General of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Irkutsk Ohm Ki-Yeong was held at North-Eastern Federal University.

The meeting was held as part of the opening of the educational center of the Korean Language and Culture of King Sejong Institute on the basis of the university.

“King Sejong Institute is a government organization under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Korea, which specializes in teaching the Korean language and culture abroad. Everyone can study at such centers”, said Mr. Ohm Ki-Yeong.

He also thanked Evgenia Mikhailova for helping to strengthen cooperation between the republics. The interim rector was awarded the Order of the Republic of Korea "Han Gul" for her contribution to the expansion and popularization of the Korean language abroad.

“In the 90s, when I worked as the head of the education department in Yakutsk, I was approached by representatives of the Korean diaspora, mostly from North Korea. They wanted their grandchildren to learn their native Korean. I decided to open the Sakha-Korean school. The Ministry of Education of South Korea advised to contact Hankuk University. Mr. Kang Duck-Soo, professor of the Russian language department, answered me, this is how our cooperation began”, said Evgenia Mikhailova.

She also added that the Korean language department was opened at NEFU due to the initiative of Professor Kang Duck-Soo, and today there is a Department of Oriental Languages ​​and Regional Studies at the university.

Reference:

The Sejonghakdang Institute is a cultural and educational project of the Republic of Korea that focuses on the comprehensive informational, educational and methodological support of the needs of students and teachers of Korean studies, as well as the coordination and standardization of the course of Korean studies for foreign students. The institution bears the name of the fourth king of Joseon Sejong Great dynasty, who has invented the Korean alphabet in 1446.

Professor Kang Duck Soo is the Head of the Department of Russian Language at Hankuk University. He was one of the originators of the opening of the Sakha-Korean School, the establishment of the Sakha-Korean Association and the opening of the Korean language department at the Institute of Foreign Philology and Regional Studies of NEFU. Translated the Yakut heroic epic "Olonkho" into Korean.