About ten people from the Cia-Cia tribe in Bau-Bau City, located on Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi, are scheduled to visit the capital from Dec. 20-26.
Among them are Bau-Bau Mayor Amirul Tamim, tribal representatives, teachers and students.
The Hunminjeongeum Society led by Professor Kim Ju-won at Dept. of Linguistics will sign an agreement with the delegation on the establishment of the Korea Center. The center, which is expected to open next spring on the island, will teach Hangeul and Korean to local people and document the Cia-Cia's culture, history and folktales.
"Since the nucleus of our culture - Hangeul - has entered the city, the cultural and personal exchanges will continue to enhance our abilities to understand each other," said Kim Ju-won."Such exchanges will help Hangeul take root in the region."
The delegation is expected to visit tourist attractions in Seoul, including Gwanghwamun Square where an exhibition hall showcasing achievements of King Sejong, an inventor of the Korean alphabet, is located.
In September, the Bau-Bau mayor told local media that through expanding cultural exchanges, including establishing a sisterhood relationship with a Korean city, the city wants to learn Korea's development experience.
The Cia-Cia people, whose population is at about 80,000, is a minority group on Buton Island. Bau-Bau City is the largest administrative city on the Island in which some 60,000 Cia-Cia people reside.
Nov. 27, 2009
SNU PR Office