Kim Nam-gil and Seo Kyoung-duk donate equipment to Basque Hangul School in Spain
In short
Actor Kim Nam-gil and Sungshin Women's University professor Seo Kyoung-duk have donated laptops, projectors, screens and Hangul teaching materials to the Basque Hangul School in Spain. The donation marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Hangul Day. Seo announced it on social media on October 9.
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Actor Kim Nam-gil (김남길) and Seo Kyoung-duk (서경덕), a professor at Sungshin Women's University, have donated laptops, projectors, screens and other equipment, along with Hangul teaching materials, to the Basque Hangul School (바스크 한글학교) in Spain to mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Hangul Day. Seo announced the donation on his social media on October 9, Yonhap and Maeil Business reported. Newsis reported that the two announced the donation on the 9th and quoted Seo as saying the equipment had been donated recently. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Yonhap reported that this year marks 100 years since Hangul Day was established in 1926 under the name "Gagya Day" (가갸날). [ 1 ]
According to Yonhap and Maeil Business, Seo has regularly donated educational supplies to Hangul schools abroad, including in New York, Vancouver, Budapest, Mexico City and Auckland, through his "Hangul globalisation campaign". The campaign is aimed at weekend schools working on Hangul education overseas and at foreigners who run study groups to learn Korean. Newsis described the campaign as one run by both Kim and Seo, while the other two outlets attributed the earlier donations to Seo. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Seo said that as K-pop and K-dramas have spread widely around the world, more foreigners and overseas Koreans want to learn Hangul and Korean, and that he wanted to help with their education even a little. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Kim, who sponsored the donation, said he would seek out organisations working on Hangul education in various parts of the world and continue to support them. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Why it matters
Seo linked the donation to the spread of K-pop and K-dramas, which he said has increased the number of foreigners and overseas Koreans who want to learn Hangul and Korean. Kim said he would keep supporting groups working on Hangul education around the world.
Key facts
- Actor Kim Nam-gil and professor Seo Kyoung-duk donated educational supplies to the Basque Hangul School in Spain. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The donation included laptops, projectors, screens and Hangul teaching materials. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The donation marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Hangul Day. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Hangul Day was established in 1926 under the name "Gagya Day". [ 1 ]
- Seo has previously donated supplies to Hangul schools abroad in New York, Vancouver, Budapest, Mexico City and Auckland, among others, through the "Hangul globalisation campaign". [ 1 , 2 ]
- Kim sponsored the donation. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Kim Nam-gil and Seo Kyoung-duk donated laptops, projectors, screens and Hangul teaching materials to the Basque Hangul School in Spain to mark the 100th anniversary of Hangul Day. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Seo announced the donation on social media on October 9. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The "Hangul globalisation campaign" targets weekend schools working on Hangul education and foreigners who run study groups to learn Korean. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Kim said he would seek out organisations working on Hangul education around the world and keep supporting them. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- When the donation was made. The reports give October 9 as the date of the announcement; Newsis quoted Seo as saying the donation was made recently, without a date.
- Who runs the "Hangul globalisation campaign". Yonhap and Maeil Business attribute the campaign's earlier donations to Seo, while Newsis describes it as a campaign run by both Kim and Seo.