South Korea’s Yonsei University will close down its Korean language school in Southern California after 15 years of operation, according to the Korea Times Los Angeles.
The Yonsei Language Institute, headquartered in Seoul, is the leading school for Korean language education as well as training Korean language teachers.
The school said the teacher-training program, which has been in place for four years, would be changed to an online lecture program beginning in September.
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Park Min-hee, the chief of education and scholarship for the Yonsei Language Institute, told the Korea Times, “The online education program is currently in the testing phase. Starting in September, people from all over the world will be able to take high-level classes from the Yonsei Language Institute.”
The Yonsei Language Institute, which first opened in L.A.’s Koreatown in 1997, trained 191 Korean language teachers in 2012.
Initially, the school primarily taught Korean Americans and other Americans but after moving to Anaheim in Orange County in 2009, they began focusing on educating Korean language teachers.
“We really appreciate Korean teachers who promote our program voluntary,” Park said. “We hope that they keep letting people know about Korean culture and the Korean language. I’ve seen many Korean Americans who realize the value of being Korean when they grow older. Teaching Korean and having a bilingual ability is important to being a proud Korean.”
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