Korea to take English education as a national task

Korea just elected its new president, and the transition Committee for the president-elect has been suggesting many ideas about new policies. The chairwoman of the committee said on January 22 that the new government regarded English education as a national task, and would consider teaching classes in English starting from elementary school. The president-elect had said on January 18 that he would consider changing a law to allow the hiring of foreign citizens to public service sectors, even to be a minister. (See related article: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2885383)

I agree with the importance of following the trend of globalization, and of English education in public schools. However, if the purpose of English education is raising the competiveness of Koreans and Korean national brands in the global market, the new government should also be concerned about the English websites of its local governments and Korean corporations that are trying to expand their market to the world. Most foreign audiences, including foreign governments and corporations, view Korea through those websites, but very few of those websites represent their governments or corporations with an effective use of English.