This study investigates the role of Korean education as a basic subject which provides foundational language capacity for learning other subjects. I examined the 2009 National Korean Curriculum (NKC) to learn how it prescribes the use of Key words as an educational tool, and compare this prescription with the activity of finding of key words in an actual social studies class. The study found that the 2009 NKC did not cover all elements of Key word identification that play a role in social studies: in the classroom, key word identification activities are driven not by students but teachers.