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South Koreans rush into Chinese classes

Yeo Ji-eun once felt that the English and Japanese classes she struggled through were enough to land a good job. Now, the 24-year-old electronics worker is in a crash course on the language of a country South Koreans once considered backward: China.

"I realized I've got to study Chinese these days. No matter which country you work in, no matter which company you work for, you have to think about doing business with China," said Yeo, who takes twice-a-week Chinese classes offered by a local government.

With China surpassing the US as South Korea's largest trading partner and the ever-tightening domestic job market, young South Koreans are rushing to master Chinese as the new language of the future.

There is no definitive estimate of how many South Koreans are learning Chinese, and English remains the most widely learned foreign language. But billboards along the streets of the capital Seoul are increasingly crammed with signs advertising Chinese language courses.

More than 35,000 South Korean students attended Chinese colleges or graduate schools as of late 2003, making them the largest expatriate student community in China, according to the latest data available from the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.

In comparison, about 74,000 South Korean students were studying in the US in 2003. They were the second-largest group of foreign students after 81,000 Japanese, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.

As South Korean companies push into the Chinese market, more students figure its language will help land a job.
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