In recent times, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has faced resistance from various countries around the world for using Confucius Institutes as a platform to promote CCP ideology and engage in espionage activities. The most recent backlash comes from South Korea, where CCP’s latest Confucius classroom project has been halted due to public opposition.
On October 6, Chungcheongnam-do Gongju Yeongmyeong High School in South Korea made a decision to indefinitely defer the establishment of a planned Chinese Confucius classroom originally scheduled for early 2025.
Confucius classrooms are educational programs established by the CCP in schools overseas, serving as branches of the Confucius Institutes targeting universities.
The first Confucius Institute globally was established in Seoul, South Korea in 2004, marking the beginning of its global expansion. According to information from the Confucius Institute website, currently in South Korea, apart from Confucius classrooms, there are 24 Confucius Institutes, the highest number in the world.
In August this year, Gongju Yeongmyeong High School in South Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Suncheon Hyang University Confucius Institute to establish a Confucius classroom. Suncheon Hyang University Confucius Institute is a collaborative effort between Tianjin Foreign Studies University of the CCP and Suncheon Hyang University, having established three Confucius classrooms in South Korea in cooperation with three high schools since its official inauguration in 2007.
In response to the high school’s plan, the Korean citizen group “Confucius Institute Truth Promotion Headquarters,” which has long been opposing the establishment of Confucius Institutes by the CCP in South Korea, took action. They provided Yeongmyeong High School with explanatory materials regarding the true nature of Confucius Institutes and related media reports to elucidate their stance against setting up Confucius Institutes in Korea. They also announced plans to hold a press conference in front of the school in early October.
Shortly after, Gongju Yeongmyeong High School decided to indefinitely defer the establishment of the Confucius classroom and informed the Confucius Institute Truth Promotion Headquarters of this decision at the end of September. This marks the first instance of CCP’s efforts to establish Confucius Institutes being halted in South Korea.
The Confucius Institute Truth Promotion Headquarters released a study titled “Research on the Nature of Confucius Institutes in South Korea and Countermeasures” at the end of 2020. The report reveals that Confucius Institutes established by the CCP, despite being named after Confucius, distort and belittle Confucian ideology and history. The teaching materials contain extensive glorification of communism and praise for the Chinese Communist Party, along with censorship of themes in competitions, exercising ideological control on a global scale.
The head of the Confucius Institute Truth Promotion Headquarters and former Director of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism in South Korea, Han Mino, told Epoch Times on October 10 that this case serves as a “blockade” against the CCP’s establishment of Confucius Institutes in South Korea.
He stated that most universities setting up Confucius Institutes in South Korea are unaware of the true nature of these institutes. “This instance demonstrates that with increased awareness of the truth, more Confucius Institutes will be halted.”
According to an investigation by the Confucius Institute Truth Promotion Headquarters, there are currently 16 Confucius classrooms in South Korea, yet only four are listed on the Confucius Institute website. Han Mino speculated that this discrepancy may be a deliberate attempt by the CCP to hide information.
South Korea’s anti-spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), initiated an investigation into Confucius Institutes in Korea last year but has not released the findings yet.
Shin Won-sik, current head of the National Security Office in South Korea and former Minister of Defense, during his time as a member of the National Assembly last year, told Korean media outlet SBS TV that Confucius Institutes serve as propaganda entities for the CCP’s United Front tactics.
Confucius, an ancient Chinese educator who advocated moral and ethical values such as “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith” to educate the population, has had a profound influence on future generations. However, the CCP’s exploitation of Confucius’ name for infiltration abroad, dissemination of CCP ideology, espionage activities, has drawn global attention. Upon understanding the situation, many European and American countries have resisted these activities, gradually shutting down Confucius Institutes within their borders.
In 2018, the US Congress restricted federal funding to schools with Confucius Institutes. Since then, the number of Confucius Institutes in the US has continued to decline. By the end of October 2023, the number reduced from over a hundred to five.
Sweden, the first country in Europe to establish Confucius Institutes, also closed all four Confucius Institutes in Sweden by the end of 2019.