Hangeul Instructors To Head For Indonesia

Seoul, South Korea - Hangeul, or Korean alphabet, instructors will be dispatched to Buton Island, Indonesia, next year, the Hunminjeongeum Society said yesterday.

The move is aimed at supporting a tribe called Jjia Jjia in Baubau City, located in Buton of Southeast Sulawesi, which chose to adopt Hangeul as their official alphabet last month.

The Hunminjeongeum Society said teachers will reside at the Korea Center on the island once it opens around March next year. The request was made by Abidin, 32, the only local Hangeul instructor in the city, the organization said.

"There are numerous schools in Buton and I‘m not yet very good at Hanguel, so it‘s difficult for me to teach all of them," Abidin recently told Yonhap News.

The Korean instructors to be sent to Indonesia will teach Hangeul and Korean to the local school teachers, while working on documentation of the Jjia Jjia tribe‘s culture, history and folktales.

"The best way is to bring the (Indonesian) teachers to Korea and offer them an official Korean education like we did to Abidin, but since they might not be comfortable with the cold weather here, we decided to send our teachers there," said Kim Joo-won, the head of the Hunminjeongeum Society.

The society said it is recruiting qualified teachers who can adapt in Baubau smoothly - those who understand a local culture and focus on offering education to local people.

Meanwhile, Baubau City is promoting active cultural and business exchanges with Korea, plus establishing a sisterhood relationship with the country.

"Although Korea and Indonesia were on a similar level some years ago, Korea now has advanced dramatically. We want to learn from Korea‘s experience," Baubau city mayor Amirul Tamim said.

The Indonesian city is keen to help its people get a job at Korean firms, taking advantage of the Hangeul education they receive, while pursuing mutual interests with Korean partners through joint investment and cooperation regarding its tourism and natural resources, the mayor said. Koh Young-aah

Source: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr
Photo: http://indonesiaview.blogspot.com

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