First Islamic School in South Korea

CAIRO – Muslim leaders in South Korea are planning to establish the country's first Islamic school, which will also accommodate non-Muslim students, reported The Korea Times Friday, March 14.

"We are preparing to open the school from March 2009,'' Secretary General of the Korean Muslim Federation (KMF) Kim Hwan-yoon told the Times.

"We will soon file an application to establish the school."

The school will be funded by a grant from Saudi Arabia, Kim said.

At a ceremony on Friday, Saudi Ambassador to Seoul Abdullah Al-Aifan offered the KMF $500,000 to start construction works.

In appreciation of the Saudi support, the new school will be named after Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz.

The school would accept students from all faiths for nominal tuition thanks to Saudi and KLM subsidization.

Besides state curricula, the school will teach Islamic studies and Arabic.

Kim said all non-religion subjects will be taught in English.

"We plan to hire enough native English teachers to run classes in the foreign language," he said.

But Kim stressed that the school will also pay due attention to Arabic, the language of the Noble Qur'an.

"Children who graduate from the school will have no difficulty speaking not only in English but Arabic," he noted.

The school will have a mosque so that Muslim students can pray.

"(Non-Muslim) Students will not be obliged to worship," Kim said.

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The KMF chief said the school will be serving as a platform clearing misconceptions about Islam.

"Many (South) Koreans have distorted information about Islam due to some disturbing incidents committed in the past by Muslims, resulting in few Korean converts to Islam," Kim said.

"One of our goals is delivering correct and unbiased information about Islam to not only children but also the general public. Of course, the school will serve as a mission."

The KMF also plans to run student exchange programs in cooperation with Islamic organizations in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Thailand.

The KMF also plans to establish an Islamic cultural center in the capital Seoul next year and secondary schools and a university in the long run.

Muslims make up 150,000 of South Korea's 49 million population, according to official estimates.

Buddhists account for 52% of the population and Christians 20%.

About 25.3% of citizens profess to follow no particular religion.

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