Chinesewings.com 2005/3/29

　　As trade relations become more intimate between China and Korea, many Koreans are seizing the opportunity to adjust to future personnel demand in the market and brushing up on their Mandarin. The number of students selecting Mandarin as their language of choice is surpassing those who pick English. After graduation, many Korean students choose to study abroad in China, secondary only to pursuing an education in the United States.
　　Although 24 year old factory worker Yeo Ji-eun believes a proper grasp of English and Japanese is enough to find a pleasant job, she is still attending a crash course in Chinese twice a week. Yeo Ji-eun explains by saying she recently became aware of the necessity of learning Mandarin because “no matter which country you work in, you will see people wanting to do business with China.”
　　The Associated Press reported in an article on March 28 from Seoul, S. Korea that after China surpassed America as Korea’s largest trading partner, the Korean youth, confronted with an increasingly competitive domestic labor market, are ensuring their grasp on Mandarin as the language of the future.
　　Currently, English still remains the prevailing language taught in the schools. Although there is no way to precisely calculate the amount of Koreans learning Mandarin, there is no denying that advertisement for Mandarin cram schools have quickly proliferated in the streets of Korea. Statistics from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea indicate that Korean students studying abroad in China has reached 35,000 in 2003, making it the country with the most students engaged in education abroad in China.
　　Data from the United States Department of Homeland Security states that in 2003, the number of Koreans who chose to pursue education abroad in America numbered 74,000, second only to Japan’s 8,1000 students. Yet as Korean corporations start to filter in China, Korean students start to seriously contemplate which language would better aide them in the job market in the future.
　　A Samsung employee affirmed that Samsung was not the only corporation interested in the Chinese market; all the Korean companies were intrigued by China. Professor Kim, who teaches International Relations in an university in Seoul, points out that the ability to speak Mandarin fluently will most likely guarantee a good job, especially with a small or medium enterprise that has trade ties with China.
　　Professor Kim states, “To Koreans, it is obvious that the future is in China.”23 year old Korean student Kwak Seung-jun who currently studies at Yanbian University in China believes that there are only two countries to consider to study abroad as America and China are the two most dominant forces.
　　In efforts to strengthen teaching in Mandarin and to satisfy the increasing preference of Korean students, the Korean Educational Development Institute is ready to increase the number of teachers from 63 to 92 in middle and high schools. Officials maintain that since there is little interest in German or French, the amount of personnel in these areas could be reduced.
　　Nevertheless, in spite of the Mandarin fever, many Koreans are left awestruck and in fear of their rapidly evolving neighbor. A storeowner in the textile industry tells of how business has been reduced on a large scale ever since China’s presence into the market. He had to manufacture high-end products that could not be replicated by China just to survive.