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1. Education System in Mexico

The South Korean education system, which has primary responsibility for the policy and administration of general, specialized, and technical education, is run by the Ministry of Education that regulates school enrollment, tuition, curriculum, teacher recruitment, and facilities. Education in South Korea has become one of the driving forces of the country's economic development, as it is based on democratic principles, commitment to modernization, and citizenship. South Korean education is one of the most efficient and innovative systems in the world. Its main pillars are based on equal opportunities and passion for quality education, which not only affects the acquisition of knowledge but also the country's social image, economy, and future. (Kim and Rhee, 2008)

Elementary school is compulsory for six years (for children between the ages of 5-6 and 11-12) and most schools are free of charge. Middle school is also compulsory for three years and it is free of charge as well. Middle school subjects include ethics, Korean language, math, social science, precision science, physical education, music, art, technology education, home economics, and English. (Figure 1). High school is a three-year program, but it is neither compulsory nor free. Finally, university education, which lasts four years, is not compulsory and is paid for. The three most prestigious universities are Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. (Haneulssem, 2022)

In Mexico, school education is divided into three types: basic education, secondary education, and tertiary education. The compulsory curriculum consists of elementary curriculum which is divided into three stages (preschool, elementary, and middle school) and the high school curriculum. This system has been put into place very recently. Until 1993, only elementary education was compulsory. In 1993, middle school was included in compulsory education, and kindergarten in 2002, and high school in 2012. Now the entire Mexicans have 15 years of compulsory education -- 3 years of kindergarten, 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school, and 3 years of high school. [Table 1] shows some figures to help contextualize the compulsory education in the Mexican education system.

Curriculum or Type	Student	Teacher	School
Kindergarten	4,153,558	227,163	87,038
Elementary school	13,464,469	567,929	95,855
Middle school	6,305,013	405,361	40,963
Basic education	24,113,780	1,209,635	228,804
Higher education	4,861,091	412,956	20,886
Compulsory education	28,974,871	1,622,591	249,690

[Table 1] Overall figures for compulsory education in Mexico (2022)

In order to back the above arguments about educational materials, it is necessary to consider what is stated in the General Law on Education (2017). The law states that the content and methods of education shall be embodied in curricula and learning programs, which shall be designed and drawn up by the federal education authority. The curriculum and learning program for basic education is of a nationwide, unitary and compulsory nature. At the same time, it points out that it is also up to the education authorities to prepare other materials that may accompany the curriculum and learning program and to assist the educators in implementing and mastering the curriculum. In the case of high school education, the design of curricula and learning programs is left to the discretion of each education institution, but the law states that they should be designed within a common framework in respect for the diversity of high school education.

2. The presence of Korea in various educational materials related to geography

For basic education, there is a curriculum that reflects the main intentions of preschool, elementary, and secondary education. The curriculum sets out the outline of what should be covered in basic education and outlines the fields of knowledge and education, i.e., the curriculum map. It also specifies the pedagogical approaches that set the direction of education, the social and educational intentions of education, and certain concepts of teaching and learning. Based on this curriculum, the curriculum map (composed of educational disciplines) is drawn up, and the learning program for each subject is drawn up to allow the design and production of textbooks.

This work deals with the case of geography, which is included in the educational field of inquiry and knowledge of the natural and social world. The content of the subjects is related to different scales of analysis according to the cognitive level of the students. Therefore, in the primary curriculum, the first and second grades focus on knowledge of the environment, the third grade on the surrounding environment, especially the local entities in which they live, the fourth grade on national realities, and the fifth and sixth grades on the knowledge of the world situation.

Based on this premise, educational materials are made for basic education, including textbooks. In Mexico, the National Commission for Free Textbooks (CONALITEG) is an organization under the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) responsible for the production and distribution of free textbooks used by students enrolled in elementary education.

Mexican elementary school textbooks for grades 1 through 4 do not mention South Korea, and only begin to do so when the content is expanded to a global level. Thus, the Block 3 "World Population" of the fifth grade textbook (Ministry of Public Education, 2022f), mentions South Korea's importance in migration flows to the United States. Korea is also mentioned in the part dealing with the acceptance of immigrants from Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, and China (p. 91-92). The Block 4, "Socioeconomic Characteristics of the World," mentions South Korea as part of an industrial region (p. 123) and Seoul as the ninth city in the world to receive the most tourists (p. 134). Likewise, the South Korean Human Development Index (HDI) data (p. 139) was mentioned for a comparison of socioeconomic conditions, and South Korea's role in the production of LEGO toys (p. 142) was included in the reading activity part.

The Block 3, “World Population and Diversity,” of the 6th grade textbook (Ministry of Public Education, 2022h) mentions South Korea in relation to migrant movements of South Korea and Southeast Asia (p. 96) and identifies Koreans as one of the main international migrant groups entering Mexico City in the block assessment activity part (p. 106). The Block 4, "The World Economy," comprehensively mentions South Korea in relation to the globalization process (p. 120) and identifies South Korea as one of major importers of Mexican goods through a graph.

Likewise, textbooks include graphic materials that refer to South Korea. They include images of yukhoe bibimbap, a traditional Korean dish of raw ground beef and egg on steamed rice (Figure 2) in the fifth-grade book on cultures that enrich the world, and the climatic conditions of the Amur leopard's habitat and South Korea's involvement in automobile production using the steel industry in the part that deals with the natural components of the Earth in the sixth-grade book.

In secondary education, geography is taught for four hours per week in first grade. In the curriculum, geography is considered a subject that contributes to the understanding of the relationships and interactions between societies that shape and change geographic space and nature. It helps students accumulate critical knowledge, develop geographic information management skills, and make responsible decisions that help improve the environment in a global context. The curriculum for geography comprises knowledge based on three thematic axes, 13 topics, and 20 learning contents that must be acquired during the course.

The process of textbook production is a little different from that of elementary school textbooks: the materials are produced by private publishers and reviewed by the Ministry of Public Education to ensure compliance with the current curriculum. Teachers then choose the textbook that best suits their students' situation and needs. Based on this choice, the National Commission for Free Textbooks (CONALITEG) purchases the textbooks from the publishers and distributes them free of charge to all students in the curriculum.

For geography, there are 11 textbooks approved by the Ministry of Public Education. They are written by geography experts and published by publishing companies -- Ediciones Castillo, Editorial Trillas, EK Editores, Fernández Educación, Innova Ediciones, Larousse, Norma Ediciones, Santillana, and SM Ediciones. For this work, I will limit the discussion to two books published by Ediciones Castillo, with whom I am working on a secondary school textbook (Figure 3).

The two geography books make various references to South Korea. For example, Session 1 "Relationships between Society and Nature in Geographic Space" uses Seoul as an example to deal with the diversity of urban space, Session 9 "Implications of Population Growth, Demographic Composition, and Distribution" describes South Korea as one of the migrant groups that can change the demographic graph and an example of favorable conditions that cause population concentration in East Asia, and Session 14 "Causes of Migration" lists South Korea as one of the countries with the largest migrant flows to the United States and the fourth largest source of international students. In Session 17, "Intercultural Coexistence," a graph shows South Korea as the eighth most common country of origin for foreigners living in Mexico City.

With regards to economic factors, there are important references to South Korea in Session 20 "Fisheries and Forestry Production in Regions of the World," which includes images of fish markets to illustrate the types of commercial fishing; Session 22 "Economic Relevance of Industry," mentions South Korea as the world's sixth-largest producer of automobiles and commercial vehicles and notes the benefits of technological advances in increasing industrial productivity; and Session 23 "Tourism Activities and Tourism Development Destinations,” lists South Korea as one of the top 20 countries that attract international tourists. Sessions 16-24, "Transportation, Trade, and Communication Networks," cite Busan as the world's sixth-largest port and list the goods that Mexico imports from South Korea, and Session 25, "Socioeconomic Differences," mentions South Korea as one of the four emerging economies (along with Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong).

Finally, regarding high school education, there are at least six types of administrative and budgetary control: education can be supplied by the federal government through the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) (centralized or decentralized, such as vocational education in the National Technical High School) or the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), federal entities (centralized or otherwise) and private or mixed financing. For the high school course, there is no mandatory curriculum at the national level; therefore, the state offers three subsystems (general high school, technical high school, and specialized high school) that fundamentally meet the educational needs of students and their future careers, and that are also related to the socioeconomic context. Therefore, it is very difficult to verify that the curriculum and educational materials at the high school level include South Korea-related content.

3. High School Class Plan Proposal

Finally, I would like to make a proposal for a class plan for a high school economic geography course taught at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The subject is required for all students studying third-discipline social sciences in the third year of high school.

02. Dynamics of the capitalist system and territorial restructuring
Specific objectives
Student: Students will investigate the capitalist system and its dynamics, interrelatedness and expressions about diverse spaces through the search, selection and analysis of documents and cartographic materials, as well as controlled and reflective discussions that allow them to assess its impact on territory.
Conceptual content
2.1 Globalization in terms of the expansion of the capitalist economic system
Activities
Introduction  1. Globalization of politics, economy, and culture: Korea's participation	Development  2. Korea's foreign trade  3. Korean companies in Mexico  4. Hallyu (Korean Wave)	Conclusion  5. Digital magazine
Activities
Introduction  1. Globalization of Politics, Economy, and Culture: Korea's Participation This conceptual content will apply the project-based learning methodology to the participation of South Korea in the globalization of the world. The teacher will give a brief overview of the globalization process by a slide presentation. The teacher will also present materials on South Korea and the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Mexico in January 1962. The two countries maintain important trade relations and they are both emerging economies and members of international organizations.
Development  2. South Korea's Foreign Trade Students should download the Global Korea chapter from the South Korean National Atlas and read the sessions on foreign trade (p. 124-125) and foreign direct investment (p. 126-127). The teacher will also ask students to review the country profiles of the Atlas of Economic Complexity, especially the structure of the country's exports. These two materials will help students ascertain the role South Korea plays in the globalization process and its relevance to Mexico.  3. Korean companies in Mexico Students will be asked to form teams to analyze Korean-invested companies that are present in Mexico, such as Samsung, LG, KORES (formerly Korea Mineral Resources Corporation, now Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation), KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation), KOGAS (Korea Gas Corporation), POSCO, Hyundai, Kia or any other companies that students know. This class is intended to analyze the global importance of the companies and their situation (production/marketing) in Mexico.  4. Hallyu (Korean Wave) Students will analyze different expressions of Korean culture that have gained prominence in Mexico in the midst of cultural globalization, such as movies, dramas, video games, cartoons, K-beauty, K-fashion, K-food, etc. Each team will choose a topic they would like to research in order to retrieve information about Korean culture in the world and in Latin America.
Conclusion  5. Digital Magazine Students will create a digital magazine about South Korea's participation in the globalization process based on the information they gathered through the class activities.

4. Future Directions

Carrying out this work, I came to notice the different aspects of the presence of Korea in Mexican education.
First of all, it allowed me to see from a different perspective the relations established with different countries of the world in relation to educational materials, especially those of the Mexican basic education curriculum. It also allowed me to see that most of the cases are limited to Latin American, American and European countries. This situation is not only a matter of great interest in terms of the topics included in the curriculum, but also limits the grasp of the realities of other countries that can respond to the current interests of Mexican students.

South Korea is reflected in Mexican education in a minimal level, and most of what is mentioned is related to the population migration, such as its importance as a sending and receiving country for immigration and statistical data. Other than that, trade between the two countries and its importance in some economic sectors are mentioned with less frequency than the above.

The current learning programs in various educational courses in Mexico propose the implementation of different teaching methodologies (case studies, project-based learning, cooperative learning, problem-based learning, or design thinking) in order to promote better academic achievements of students. These methodologies could be used to generate research projects that cover a variety of topics related to Korea, beyond simply mentioning the migration process.

The two countries have important trade relations (South Korea is Mexico's sixth-largest trading partner, and Mexico is South Korea's most important trading partner in Latin America), and have a lot in common politically and economically, as both belong to various international organizations (G20, OECD, APEC, MIKTA). In particular, Mexico received sizable investment from Korean global conglomerates such as Samsung, LG, and KORES (formerly Korea Mineral Resources Corporation, now Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation), KEPCO, KOGAS, POSCO, Hyundai, and Kia. Many of these corporations are widely known to Mexicans, which can have a significant impact on the development of knowledge about a country like South Korea, which is particularly important for Mexican education.

Besides, it is essential to recover the informal knowledge and interest of students who have a cursory knowledge of Korea through cultural representations, especially movies and music, and to explore other topics that may be of interest to them, such as the Korean experience in achieving a sustainable and environmentally friendly society or the importance, care and protection of natural and cultural spaces that are considered national heritage.

Finally, it is necessary to emphasize South Korea in Mexican education and explore other aspects that could have an impact on improving education, such as increasing investment in technological infrastructure in schools, ensuring that students have access to devices that they can use for learning, implementing educational resources such as digital textbooks or school administration and management support systems, and increasing technical training opportunities for teachers.