After more than seventy years of bilateral relations, Spain and the Republic of Korea strengthened their economic and political ties with the signing of a strategic partnership agreement in 2021. Cultural circulation between the two countries is also increasingly intense not only as a consequence of the Korean “cultural wave” that has reached Asia and the whole world, or the significant increase in Korean tourism in Spain -especially on the “Camino de Santiago”-, but also because of the growing interest of Koreans in the cultures of Spain and, in particular, in learning Spanish. This report examines the conditions under which Spanish has progressively established its presence in the Korean educational system, the difficulties encountered, the actions that have been taken to promote it and the role of the Instituto Cervantes. The study offers a complete, in-depth and rigorously updated view of the situation of Spanish language instruction in Korea, and suggest the need to take advantage of the opportunity of the growing demand for the study of Spanish through the creation of an Instituto Cervantes center in Seoul and the strengthening of academic cooperation networks that stimulate bilateral cultural circulation.

Participants:

Carmen Noguero, General Secretary, Instituto Cervantes | @InstCervantes
Víctor Ugarte, Director, Instituto Cervantes in Tokio | @victortokio – @CervantesTokio
Óscar Rodríguez, Head of the Aula of the Instituto Cervantes in Seoul
Ángel Badillo Matos, Senior Analyst, Elcano Royal Institute | @angelbadillo

Moderator: María Solanas, Director of Programmes, Elcano Royal Institute | @Maria_SolanasC

Hashtag: #EspañolCoreaSur