[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]Test Koreans in Korean

Regarding the article “Koreans’ skill in Korean is seen as poor” (July 6), I would like to suggest some solutions to the declining Korean-language skills of Koreans. After I graduated elementary school, there were neither “reading comprehension classes” nor any classes like them in middle or high school. Korean writing skills were never taught substantially. All the writing skills needed for the rest of my life seemed to have been somehow mastered during my elementary years.
Unfortunately, while Koreans are obsessed with and putting their efforts into mastering English or other foreign languages, they seem to have deserted their native language. A quasi-TOEFL, a Korean Proficiency Test for Koreans, should be designed. If companies were to look for good scores in Korean ability as much as English, Koreans would pay much more attention to developing Korean skills.

by Hwang Hye-sook