The State University of New York at Stony Brook will open certification courses for teaching Korean to meet the growing demand for Korean language education in the U.S., under an agreement it signed Wednesday with Korea’s Education Ministry.

The agreement envisions Korea’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology providing the U.S. university with a total of $460,000 over the next five years to help it develop the programs.

Stony Brook University will extend its existing Korean language programs from next year, and will launch a Korean language major starting in 2014. The university aims to produce at least 10 Korean teachers on an annual basis from 2018.

The ministry noted that the agreement is a response to an increasing demand for the Korean language in the United States. It noted that the number of schools offering Korean classes rose to 91 in 2011 from 51 in 2009.

The ministry also singed a similar MOU last year with the California State University in Los Angeles to nurture Korean teachers in the states. 

(596story@heraldcorp.com)