South Korea and Brazil signed an agreement on Monday to expand cooperation in education, including language learning, higher education and artificial intelligence, the Education Ministry said Tuesday.
The memorandum of cooperation was signed between the countries’ respective Ministries of Education during President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Brazil.
Under the agreement, the two sides will cooperate in areas including technical and vocational education, higher education, Portuguese-language education in Korea, Korean-language education in Brazil and AI and digital education.
Korea's Education Ministry said educational ties between the two countries have broadened since Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s state visit to South Korea in February. It pointed in particular to growing demand for Korean-language education in Brazil and the presence of Brazilian students studying in Korea.
As of last year, 1,886 students at 309 schools in Brazil were taking Korean-language classes, mainly through online and after-school programs.
A total of 366 Brazilian international students studied in South Korea last year, making Brazil the 32nd-largest source of international students among 189 countries represented in Korea.
“I hope this cooperation will allow the two countries to share their experiences and knowledge and help our children step into a wider world,” Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said.
seungku99@heraldcorp.com