Since 2024, Split has the King Sejong Institute, Republic of Korea’s national institution that promotes Korean language and culture worldwide. The Institute operates within Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at University of Split, and its director and faculty vice dean, prof. Vedran Barbarić, explains that its mission is to contribute to cultural exchange between Croatia and Korea.
-The King Sejong Institute in Split is one of 252 institutes operating globally. It is worth mentioning that Republic of Croatia has three institutes—which means that Split, along with Zagreb and Rijeka—makes the national KSI family, second in Europe only to those in United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Hungary. This demonstrates a strong interest in Korean culture and language. Before formally establishing the institute, Faculty of Humanities carried out projects from 2018 to 2024 in collaboration with Korean institutions, including teacher and student exchanges, scientific conferences, and an exhibition by renowned artist Nam June Paik. Establishing the King Sejong Institute was a logical next step, Barbarić said.
Students Gain International Opportunities
One of the successful students is Judita Ozretić, Croatian recipient of Global Korea Scholarship for 2025. Judita studied biology and chemistry at Faculty of Science, but after starting to study Korean language, she decided to change her career path. She is currently pursuing master's degree in Korean language at Sungkyunkwan University.
Additionally, the institute participates in a global Korean speech competition in honour of King Sejong’s birthday, the creator of Hangul, the Korean alphabet. "Competition winners from each institute are invited to Korea for a six-day cultural program that includes taekwondo, traditional crafts, K-beauty, culinary workshops, and gatherings with students from around the world", said Barbarić.
Culture Comes to Classroom
The Institute regularly organizes workshops in collaboration with local organizations and companies, ranging from ceramics workshops in Gupdari style, bag design using Hangul techniques and stencils, K-pop dance workshops, to making traditional fans and windmills. "Our goal is to introduce students to Korean culture in a practical, interactive, and fun way", Barbarić concludes.
Photo: King Sejong Institute
