Romanian schools might start offering Korean classes next year

Diplomacy

Published: 08 Aug. 2022, 15:47

Romanian schools might start offering Korean classes next year

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, third from left, speaks with Romania’s Education Minister Sorin Mihai Cimpeanu, second from right, and other members of the Romanian government in Bucharest, Romania, on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The Korean language may be taught in Romanian middle and high schools next year, said Romania’s Education Minister Sorin Mihai Cimpeanu in a meeting with National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo in Romania on Sunday.

“We are preparing to revise the education law in the latter half of this year, and one of the key objectives is to strengthen the second language program across middle and high schools,” Cimpeanu was quoted as telling Kim by Kim’s office on Sunday. “There is a possibility that the Korean language will be included as a second language taught across high schools from 2023.”

Universities in Romania including the University of Bucharest and University Babes-Bolyai of Cluj-Napoca have been running Korean language programs for years, according to Kim’s office.

“If Korean is introduced as a regular foreign language program across Romanian middle and high schools, I believe that we would be able to establish a more comprehensive and systematic Korean language education in the nation,” Kim said during the meeting.

Kim and his delegation including People Power Party Rep. Chung Woon-chun and Democratic Party Rep. Baek Hye-ryun set out for a visit to Poland and Romania last Friday, with plans for discussions on defense and energy, including building nuclear power plants.

Poland entered into a pact with Korea last month to buy weapons including K-2 tanks, K-9 self-propelled howitzers and FA-50 light fighter jets, estimated to cost up to 20 trillion won ($15.3 billion).

The deal was brought up in Kim's meeting with the speaker of the lower house of the Polish parliament, Elzbieta Witek, on Friday, in which Kim also proposed expanded cooperation in nuclear energy.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company submitted a bid last April to the Polish authorities to build six nuclear power plants between 2026 and 2043. Other bidders include corporations from the United States and France.

“Poland is very interested in cooperation on nuclear power, defense and technology,” Witek was quoted to have said in the meeting by Kim's office. “In the post-pandemic era, and especially if the war in Ukraine ends, we expect the cooperation between the two countries to be able to expand further.”

In his meeting with Cosmin Ghita, the CEO of Romania’s only nuclear energy producer, Nuclearelectrica, on Sunday, Kim proposed Korea-Romania-U.S. cooperation on nuclear energy.

Washington and Bucharest have been discussing building small nuclear power reactors called small modular reactors in Romania.

Ghita was said to have responded positively, expressing hopes for “closer cooperation with Korea on the front of nuclear energy,” according to Kim’s office.

The parliamentary delegation was scheduled to return to Seoul on Thursday.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]