Controversies on English As Second Official Language of Cheju

The government and the ruling Millennium Democratic Party(MDP) are said to be reviewing a report which contains a plan to designate English as the second official language of Cheju island.

The government previously requested the research, to a foreign service corporation, on the measures to develop Cheju as an international free city. The government and the ruling Party are to make a final decision on this issue at the end of July. The government is to present the final plans, as a special law, to the general assembly and will make it effective from January next year.

The policy planning committee for Cheju international free city (team director, Lee Hae-Chan), which MDP had established with the cooperation of related government administrations last March, is reviewing possibilities of the proposals such as to introduce English as a second language to improve the English proficiency in Cheju, to establish a foreign language schools and to invite branch campuses of foreign universities.

When English is designated as a second official language, government documents and letters are to be written in Korean and English. All public signs are also to be written in both languages.

The government is also examining a plan to establish a public corporation of Cheju international investment and development. The government will invest more than 50 percent of the corporation`s total asset 1.5 trillion won. In addition, 10 percent of value added tax collected in Cheju is also invested in the corporation for ten year beginning next year.

The policy makers are also planning to register Cheju island as an international cultural area to protect the cultural resources in this area. Cheju island is currently known as having 630 worldly recognized cultural remains.

However, the team director Lee Hae-Chan said, ``[The committee] is on stage of reviewing every possible ideas including the research reports. Nothing has been decided yet.``

Yoon Jong-Koo jkmas@donga.com