By Leah Garlock | Executive Director
Minwoo is a third grader in South Korea. He'd been looking forward to his first official English class all year.
But when his teacher asked the class simple questions, his classmates answered with ease. Many had studied English since they were four years old, through private after-school academies called hagwons. Minwoo never had that chance.
Within minutes, his excitement turned to quiet embarrassment. It was a feeling that followed him into math, reading, and nearly every other subject his classmates had extra help to master.
A Pattern That Repeats Every Year
Minwoo's story is a composite, drawn from real interviews and our own experience with students across KKOOM's partner children's homes. However, the pattern itself is real.
In South Korea, formal English instruction doesn't start until third grade. Most students start years earlier, through hagwons. According to a Ministry of Education report, 47.6% of preschoolers in Korea participated in private education last year (The Korea Times, July 2025). The number of English academies for young learners has nearly doubled since 2017.
Nationwide, families spent nearly $20.2 billion on private education in 2024, a 60% increase over the past decade (Korea Herald, Jan. 2026). For children without family resources behind them, the starting line keeps moving further away.
More Than Academics
The gap isn't just academic. Students without hagwon access often report feeling socially isolated and anxious comparing themselves to better-resourced peers.
We've seen it firsthand. At a STEM camp we held a few years ago, several elementary students told us that college and studying abroad simply felt "not for someone like them."
Your Gift in Action
That's why YOU make KKOOM's hagwon scholarships possible. Your gift gives a child in our care the same after-school academic support their peers take for granted, tutoring that typically costs $200–$300 a month per subject.
With your support, students like Minwoo get to start school on equal footing: building confidence, keeping pace with their class, and believing their dreams are still within reach.
Thank you for investing in a future where every child's potential, not their circumstances, determines how far they go.
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