This article divides Korean language education into two stages : the periods of value oriented education and Korean language ability based education. Before the late 1980s, education included cultural values or readings reflecting certain worthy ideals in textbooks and education related values and ideas through the content of the works studied in this article. In the late 1980s, Korean language education underwent major changes. The framework and contents of Korean textbooks changed drastically under the fifth curriculum of Korean language education, which forced Korean language classes in the elementary and secondary schools to change. With the establishment of a Ph.D. program in Korean language education starting in 1986, Korean language education scholars started to play the major role in Korean language education that had traditionally been played by Korean language scholars and academic societies devoted to Korean language education began to emerge. Evaluations of teacher training institutions promoted a dramatic change in the education offered within the Korean Language Education Department. Finally, I point out that Korean language education should advance from logocentrism in response to digital communication.