The Gyeonggi Provincial Government held an opening ceremony for the 2017 Head Start Program for Korean Language, History, and Culture on April 5, 2017, at 10:00AM at the grand hall of the Establishment Palace in Kyungmin University to celebrate the official launching of the program.
The Head Start Program is designed to help U.S. military personnel who have moved to Gyeonggi Province understand and learn the Korean language, history, and culture in cooperation with Pyeongtaek University, Kyungmin University, Shinhan University, and universities nearby U.S. military installations.

The provincial government will run the program targeting 3,000 military personnel in 64 sessions at three universities until December of this year. The practical courses include the history of the ROK-U.S. alliance, basic Korean language, cultural topics such as hanbok, calligraphy, and taekwondo, and SOFA guidelines for accident prevention.
Moreover, it offers an opportunity to visit the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan and view the War History Room, The Korean War Room, and a monument honoring military personnel who were killed during the Korean War. The field trip aims to heighten the sense of duty borne by the U.S. Forces in Korea.
The Head Start Program sponsored by Gyeonggi Province has been provided to the U.S. Armed Forces stationed at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek since 2007. In addition, the military personnel from the 2nd Infantry Division Headquarters located in Uijeongbu and Dongducheon joined the program in 2013; currently, the program is offered at Pyeongtaek University, Kyungmin University, and Shinhan University.
U.S. military personnel residing in Gyeonggi Province favor the program because it helps them learn the Korean language and history and gain cultural understanding through various field trips.
In particular, SOFA training sessions undertaken in cooperation with the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency are considered effective in building stronger relations between Korea and the U.S., mitigating conflicts between the U.S. Armed Forces and local communities, and preventing related accidents.