As part of plans to become an international tourism hub, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province plans to have 60,000 fluent foreign language speakers on the island by 2020. The language education program, targeting civil servants, citizens and tourism workers, will be part of a planned 2.7 trillion won investment to forge an environment where foreign languages are commonly used. Also included is the establishment of the Jeju Global Education City, on which work has begun; the increased use of Korean and foreign languages for street signs; and the use of English for official documents and official meetings.

Officials plan to offer specialized English, Japanese and Chinese language classes to civil servants with the intention of producing 100 employees specializing in foreign languages by 2013. The provincial government also plans to increase the number of foreign civil servants working in international relations and investment inducement.

“We will seek to make Jeju a tourism hub in Northeast Asia by solidifying a foreign-language infrastructure that will enable people to use foreign languages freely in their everyday lives,” said Kim Su Byeong, a senior provincial government official.