KOREAN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOR ADOPTEES

[Anchor Lead]

Koreans who were adopted abroad sometimes return to Korea. A Korean language institute opened in Korea for the first time for those adoptees still not fluent in Korean.

[Pkg]

Erin was adopted by an American family when she was just three months old. She came to Korea for the first time five years ago.

[Soundbite] Erin Underwood(Overseas Adoptee) : "I’m Erin and I’m an American. I studied Korean by myself, so I don’t speak Korean well."

Her goal is to work for an international agency located in South Korea.

[Soundbite] Erin Underwood(Overseas Adoptee) : "I want to learn about Korean cuisine, because I want to cook for my parents when I go to the U.S."

Nam-wook, who was adopted by a French family when he was nine, came back to Korea after 22 years.

[Soundbite] Kang Nam-wook(Overseas Adoptee) : "I always wanted to come back. I’m Korean and it was really hard for me to make adjustments."

Reunited with his biological family, he started learning Korean to open a business in Seoul.

[Soundbite] Kang Nam-wook(Overseas Adoptee) : "I’m all grown up and I need to speak like an adult if I want to start a business here."

King Sejong Institute, a public institution funded by the government, teaches Korean to local residents at some 230 locations around the world. This is the first class that opened inside Korea catering to adoptees. The course was set up to meet the demand for Korean culture and language lessons from some 1,000 adoptees now residing in the nation.

[Soundbite] Han Gwang-hyeon(King Sejong Institute Foundation) : "Adoptees belong to a socially isolated class, so we plan to fulfill our social responsibility as a public institution."

King Sejong Institute plans to open Korean language programs for foreign spouses of Korean nationals and their children as well.