The City University of Hong Kong and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong are jointly holding a Korean Week which opened on Monday.

 

The university also announced that it will launch Hong Kong's first bachelor's degree program specialized in Korean in September.

 

Hong Kong Consul-General of the Republic of Korea, Cho Whan-bok, said that the Korean language courses offered by City University have deepened students' knowledge about the culture and country of Korea. The new bachelor's degree program will help forge Hong Kong’s popular understanding of Korean.

 

The four-day event taking place in the City University introduces the characteristics of Korean culture and recent development of the country to visitors through workshops, exhibitions, performances, and seminars. Even though held on a small scale, the Korean Week presents two main special features of Korean culture -- popular culture and information technology which will aid people to better comprehend Korea.

 

From 2003, the university started to provide elective courses and minor programs in Korean. There are currently about 500 students taking Korean language courses in the university now.

 

Cho also said that there are many common characteristics between Korean and Chinese cultures, such as a hard-working population, easing the promotion of Korean culture in Hong Kong.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2007)