2012 Korean Government Scholarship program for Undergraduate- Application Guideline

Korean government invites 100 international students from 62 countries who wish to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Korea.

To be selected as a KGSP grantee, any applicant should successfully pass through the 1st selection process set by the Korean embassies (or Consulates) of his or her origin.

So to apply for the program, please contact the 1st selection organizations to get detailed information on the 1st selection process such as application deadline and required documents, etc. *

Application deadline may differ from one country to another; it will be expected to fall in late September or early October.

As for the application guideline, please refer to the attached files.

Wish you all good luck!

Application guideline click

http://www.niied.go.kr/CommonBoard/board_view_user.jsp?seq=65&&boardid=TB_NIIED_ENG_BRD04&keyword=&searchtype=&chk_title=null&chk_contents=null&chk_writername=null&no=65

Merry Chuseok 2011

Chuseok (Korean: 추석), originally known as Hangawi (한가위, from archaic Korean for "great middle"), is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Like many other harvest festivals, it is held around the Autumn Equinox. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food such as songpyeon and rice wines such as sindoju and dongdongju.

Origins

Historically and according to popular belief, Chuseok originates from Gabae. Gabae started during the reign of the third king of the kingdom ofSilla (57 BC - AD 935), when it was a month-long weaving contest between two teams.^[1][2] Come the day of Gabae, the team that had woven more cloth had won and was treated to a feast by the losing team. However, it is also said that Chuseok marks the day Silla won a great victory over the rival kingdom of Balhae. It is believed that weaving competitions, archery competitions, and martial arts demonstrations were held as part of the festivities.^[3]

Many scholars also believe Chuseok may originate from ancient shamanistic celebrations of the harvest moon.^[4] New harvests are offered to local deities and ancestors, which means Chuseok may have originated as a worship ritual.^[5] In some areas, if there is no harvest, worship rituals are postponed, or in areas with no annual harvest, Chuseok is not celebrated.

Traditional customs

Another table with many traditional food offerings on it.

In modern South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans as they return to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of their ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They often visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors.

One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편), a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles. Other foods commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruits.

Folk games

A variety of folk games are played on Chuseok to celebrate the coming of Autumn and rich harvest. Village folk dress themselves to look like a cow or a turtle, and go from house to house along with a Nongak band playing music. Other common folk games played on Chuseok are tug of war, archery, ssireum, . Folk games also vary from region to region. The Ganggangsullae dance, forming a circle under the moon is performed by women and children in southwestern coastal regions.

Dates for Chuseok on the Gregorian calendar

Songpyeon

Chuseok is on the following days:

• 2006: October 6
• 2007: September 25
• 2008: September 14
• 2009: October 3
• 2010: September 22
• 2011: September 12
• 2012: September 30
• 2013: September 19
• 2014: September 8
• 2015: September 27
• 2016: September 15
• 2017: October 4
• 2018: September 24

Chuseok, as well as the day before it and afterwards, are legal holidays in South Korea.

Merry Chuseok /추석 day to all my friends here in Korea