On June 30, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister YU In Chon, MCST), in collaboration with the King Sejong Institute Foundation (Acting President CHOI Hyun Seung), designated 11 new King Sejong Institutes in 9 countries to be established in 2025. With this new designation, Korean language and culture classes will now be available at 252 King Sejong Institutes across 87 countries worldwide.

In 2024 alone, a total of 210,374 students studied Korean language either online or offline at King Sejong Institutes around the world. This marks a significant increase compared to 2007, when the first King Sejong Institute opened in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, there were only 13 institutes in 3 countries with only 740 students per year. This growth can be attributed to the Korean government’s systematic support for Korean language education, particularly following the establishment of the King Sejong Institute Foundation in 2012.

Reflecting the growing global interest in learning Korean, this year’s call for new King Sejong Institutes attracted applications from 94 institutions in 43 countries, recording the highest-ever competition rate of 8.5 to 1. The King Sejong Institute Designation Review Committee[1] conducted a four-month evaluation process, including document reviews, on-site inspections, and final assessments. As a result, 11 institutions with outstanding operational capabilities were selected as the new King Sejong Institutes.

<Newly Designated locations by region / country>

Malaysia (1), UAE (1), Uzbekistan (1), China (2),  the Philippines (1)

Building on the newly designated King Sejong Institutes this year, the ministry will further strengthen efforts to realize the new government’s presidential pledge to promote the global spread of the Korean language and culture.

The ministry will gradually expand the current five regional hub King Sejong Institutes to 20 by 2030. These hubs will play a key role in discovering and supporting capable new institutes, managing regional operations, and facilitating cooperation with local diplomatic missions and institutions, thereby establishing a sustainable Korean language ecosystem in each region.

Based on this framework, the number of King Sejong Institutes will also increase with a goal of designating and operating over 350 institutes worldwide by 2030.