Event held Thursday–Friday at OSCO Convention Center in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province
20th anniversary of adult literacy education support project
35 organizations participate, 29 hands-on booths
National Institute for Lifelong Education: 'Literacy now means reading the world'
South Korea is holding its first-ever literacy education policy exhibition, 20 years after the government launched its adult literacy education support project — a milestone that reflects how the definition of literacy has expanded far beyond reading and writing to include navigating AI, kiosks and digital finance.
The Ministry of Education and the National Institute for Lifelong Education announced the inaugural "Korea Literacy Education Policy Exhibition," running Thursday and Friday at the OSCO Convention Center in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.
The event marks the 20th anniversary of the adult literacy education support project, which the ministry launched in 2006. Organized around the theme "You and Me, a New World Connected through Literacy and AI," the exhibition brings together 35 organizations — including local governments, public institutions, companies and universities — operating 29 hands-on booths. About 2,000 adult literacy learners from across the country are also expected to attend.
The exhibition reflects how the concept of literacy has shifted over the past two decades. What was once a basic curriculum centered on reading, writing and arithmetic has expanded to encompass the digital skills needed for everyday life — ordering at kiosks, using digital banking, navigating map applications and working with AI tools.
"We live in an era where people chat with AI in the morning, place orders at kiosks, scan QR codes and use digital financial services," said Seo Yeong-a, head of the National Literacy Education Center at the institute. "We want to transform literacy education from simply learning letters into education that helps people read the world."
The need for digital literacy education is growing. A survey on adult digital literacy by the institute found that about 20.27 million adults — 47.2 percent of the total adult population — struggle with tasks such as checking a KakaoTalk invitation and using a navigation service, or ordering a drink at a kiosk. As of 2024, about 3.77 million adults were also found to lack basic literacy skills in reading, writing and arithmetic.
The exhibition will feature hands-on programs focused on everyday situations, where participants can practice using kiosks, digital banking services and AI tools. A mobile unit called the "Hangul Sunshine Bus," which carries digital devices directly to learners in the community, will also be introduced. Other programming includes a screening of the documentary "Literacy: Still Learning," a national adult literacy poetry-and-art exhibition, an "AI Golden Bell" quiz challenge and a singing competition.
A policy forum titled "20 Years of Change Through Learning: A New Leap for Literacy Education" will examine the project's achievements over the past two decades and chart the direction of literacy education in the AI era. The adult literacy education support project has benefited a cumulative total of about 920,000 people.
The institute said literacy education must evolve beyond basic hangul instruction for a limited segment of adults into a form of lifelong education that anyone can benefit from as society continues to change.
Kim Wol-yong, president of the institute, also addressed the government's ongoing discussions about restructuring the local education finance grant system. "We have asked the government to secure funding for lifelong education as part of the fiscal restructuring process for future education amid a declining school-age population," he said, adding that support for lifelong education could expand next year.
Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said literacy education is "a meaningful policy that opens a new life for adults with low literacy." "I hope this becomes an opportunity to open a new future for literacy education suited to the AI era, and we will expand support so that people can develop the literacy skills needed in a changing society," she said.
brunch@heraldcorp.com
