More than 800 schools in 24 countries were teaching Korean as a second language as of 2013, data showed Thursday, illustrating the steadily rising popularity of Korean abroad.
According to the Ministry of Education, the number of students who took Korean lessons stood at 82,886 in 2013, up from 77,712 students in 2012 and 64,611 in 2011.
Between 2011 and 2013, more than 180 schools were newly added to the list of the schools offering Korean lessons to their students.
Thailand topped the ranking with 22,153 students learning Korean as a second language, followed by Japan with 12,323 students, the United States with 10,588 and Uzbekistan with 7,102.
Foreign students around the world are showing greater interest in learning Korean, thanks largely to the soaring popularity of Korean pop music and TV dramas, experts said.
The rise of the Korean language overseas is also reflected in the country’s online shopping sector. According to G-market, one of Korea’s major online retailers, Chinese consumers have been making more orders for Korean books and Hangeul-related products in the past year.
G-market said the revenue generated by Chinese consumers shot up 871 percent in September from the same period last year.
Overseas orders for Hangeul-related products rose by 500 percent in the Netherlands, 258 percent in Australia and 200 percent in Tanzania in the cited period.
By Kim Da-sol, Intern reporter (dasolkim@heraldcorp.com)
