The UAB houses the King Sejong Institute of Barcelona, the official South Korean institute promoting the language and culture of the country. First Lady of South Korea Kim Jung-sook visited the institute at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting, where lecturer Mihwa offered a conference to the Korean delegation and students from the centre.
The UAB recently welcomed the visit of South Korean First Lady Kim Jung-sook, who came to the UAB to meet with students from the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting and visit the King Sejong Institute headquarters in Barcelona.
First Lady Kin Jung-sook, married to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, was welcomed to the UAB by Javier Lafuente, Rector of the UAB; Albert Branchadell, Dean of the Faculty of the Translation and Interpreting; Màrius Martínez, Vice Rector for International Relations; and Mihwa Jo, lecturer and director of the King Sejong Institute in Barcelona. The institute, a centre for the study and dissemination of the Korean language and culture, has been located on the UAB campus since 2018.
Lecturer Mihwa gave a conference on the language and literature of Korea to the Korean delegation and some fifteen students from the faculty.
The Sejong Hakdang (King Sejong in Korean) Institute was created by the South Korean Ministry for Culture to promote the teaching of the Korean language and its culture. Its main headquarters is in Seoul and it have over 174 centres in 58 different countries. In Spain alone, the institute can be found in three locations: apart from the UAB, where it is located in the MRA building of the UAB Research Park, there is an institute at the Korean Cultural Centre in Madtid and another centre at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The institute offers Korean language courses in all levels, and cultural activities such as musical recitals, meetings with Korean authors and film festivals. The institute was named after the 15th century King of Korea, Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty, who invented the Korea alphabet, known as Hangeul.
The King Sejong Institute Foundation and the UAB signed an agreement in 2017 jointly to foster, promote and disseminate the language and culture of Korea through the organisation of diverse academic activities, courses and conferences, all aimed at the general public. Thanks to this joint collaboration, the UAB expands its academic ties with the region of East Asia, in which the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting is a leading centre.
