Korea expands support for Korean language education in US communities

Inside hundreds of church basements, civic halls and rented classrooms across America, Saturday morning means one thing for young Korean Americans: learning to write their names in Hangeul, or the Korean alphabet, and tracing their family roots back across the Pacific.

Now, Korea’s Ministry of Education is stepping in to modernize those weekly lessons, dispatching thousands of newly tailored textbooks and digital learning tools to weekend language schools across the U.S.

Officials from the ministry and the International Korean Language Education Foundation announced the initiative ahead of the 44th annual National Association for Korean Schools conference in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Under the new plan, the government will distribute 185,000 textbooks and instructional materials to U.S. weekend schools this year, up from 179,000 in 2025.

The strategic push targets longstanding resource gaps identified by educators on the ground, introducing customized language materials designed specifically for toddlers and preschoolers.

Overseas curricula previously catered almost exclusively to elementa ...