Hong Kong to include Korean in DSE university entrance exam from 2025 amid K-Culture boom

French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Hindi and Urdu are currently offered as part of the foreign language category of the city’s university entrance exam

From 2025, students will be able to submit scores from the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), which is a Korean language test for non-native speakers

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With Chinese and English listed as the official languages of Hong Kong, the city’s university entrance exam currently includes French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Hindi and Urdu in its foreign language category. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 5:16pm, 22 Jun 2022Updated: 6:19pm, 22 Jun 2022

Hong Kong will include Korean in the foreign language category of the city’s university entrance exam starting from 2025, but will drop both Hindi and Urdu.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong confirmed on Wednesday that the city’s Examinations and Assessment Authority and South Korea’s National Institute for International Education had reached an agreement to include Korean as part of the Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (DSE).

“The documents on the agreement are ready, but a physical ceremony for the memorandum of understanding was postponed due to Hong Kong’s Covid-19 restrictions,” deputy consul general Park Kyong-sig said.

Under the agreement, Hong Kong’s testing authority will allow students to submit scores from the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), taken in the last two years. TOPIK is a Korean language test for non-native speakers and includes reading, writing and listening components.

In view that young people’s interest in the Korean language has been increasing, the Korean examination was specially added to meet students’ needs

Wei Xiang-dong

“In view that young people’s interest in the Korean language has been increasing, the Korean examination was specially added to meet students’ needs,” said Wei Xiang-dong, secretary general of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA).