The Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation said on the 26th that it held a certificate ceremony for 31 new scholarship recipients of its CMK Global Scholarship undergraduate program on the 25th.
The scholars selected this year are outstanding undergraduates from Indonesia and Vietnam who will begin their studies in September at Korea University, Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Hanyang University.
The foundation has run the CMK Global Scholarship undergraduate program since 2024 to give talented students from ASEAN countries a chance to study in Korea, to support the internationalization of domestic universities and to expand people-to-people exchange between Korea and ASEAN. It began with Indonesian undergraduates and expanded the list of eligible countries to include Vietnam in 2025.
The selected undergraduate scholars receive full tuition along with monthly study stipends and settlement allowances. They are also offered a range of CMK Fellowship activities, including an integrated summer camp for Korean and international scholars, scholar group gatherings, and Korean cultural tours and exchange programs. Top-performing scholars will be supported through graduate studies after they complete their undergraduate degrees.
Earlier, on the 21st, the foundation held a certificate ceremony for the first eight recipients of its CMK Global Scholarship Korean-language instructor program, a new track launched this year.
The CMK Global Scholarship Korean-language instructor program is a scholarship program that gives foreign instructors working as Korean-language teachers or professors abroad the chance to learn systematic Korean teaching methods in Korea and to experience the country's language and culture firsthand. Working with the Yonsei University Korean Language Institute, the foundation selected its first scholars from among foreign instructors with at least three years of experience teaching Korean. This year's first cohort consists of eight Korean-language instructors from seven countries: Ukraine, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Iran.
Starting in September, the Korean-language instructor scholars will complete a six-month regular Korean-language curriculum at the Yonsei University Korean Language Institute along with a specialized teaching-methods course developed separately for this scholarship program. The foundation covers tuition, textbook costs, round-trip airfare, housing and settlement allowances, and study stipends, and provides CMK Fellowship programs such as Korean cultural experiences and scholar networking.
A foundation official said the CMK Global Scholarship has established itself as a global talent development initiative by expanding both its recipients and its scope. "We will continue our support so that we broaden the foundation for people-to-people exchange with diverse regions, while enabling talented individuals in each field to build their expertise and serve as a bridge between Korea and the world," the official said.
The foundation launched the CMK Global Scholarship, its scholarship program for foreign nationals, in 2020, and has since selected about 220 scholars — mainly graduate students from ASEAN countries — and provided a total of 15 billion won ($10.8 million). It later expanded eligibility from Indonesian undergraduates in 2024 to Vietnam in 2025, and this year broadened the scope of its global talent development by extending support to Korean-language instructors abroad.
