hán guó韩国zǒng tǒng总统lǐ zài míng李在明tán谈hàn zì汉字jiào yù教育
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung recently spoke about Chinese character education at an education conference.
He expressed his agreement with the suggestion to "strengthen Chinese character learning."
At the conference, an expert mentioned that some students nowadays don't even recognize the Chinese characters in the president's name.
After hearing this, Lee Jae-myung smiled and responded that no wonder some people write his name wrong, which caused laughter at the scene.
Lee Jae-myung also gave an example.
He mentioned the ancient Chinese text "Thousand Character Classic."
He said that even if students only study this one book, it helps them understand the deeper meanings of Chinese characters and words, and also helps develop thinking skills.
However, Lee Jae-myung also said that formally including Chinese character education into the system is not easy and may face many difficulties.
This speech sparked discussion in South Korea.
Some people believe that Chinese characters help in understanding language and culture; others feel that the focus of education has changed now.