The South Korean government announced ambitious plans for a large enrollment of foreign students in local universities back in 2023. Their target was 300,000 students, with a deadline of 2027 to reach that number; Of the total enrollment, 220,000 were to enroll under scholarship programs, and 80,000 were to be fully fee-paying.
When the government announced its large-scale plans, there were 207,000+ international students in the country, so their new goal seemed as realistic as possible, albeit quite ambitious. However, the reality turned out to be that it didn't take South Korea 4 years to reach the goal – they achieved it two years early! As of August 2025, the total number of foreign students in the state has reached 305,329 people, while 225,769 are holders of D-2 visas and participants in scholarship programs at local universities, 79,500 people are in the country with D-4-1 visas to study Korean, and several hundred foreigners are holders of D-4-7 and students of programs in other foreign languages.
Most of the foreign applicants come to Korea from China and Vietnam. Their total number in the country by the end of this summer is 193,986 students, that is, 64% of all foreign students. In addition to these states, the largest "suppliers" of foreign minds are Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Nepal.
Experts believe that the main boosters that help attract foreigners to South Korea are:
- Increase in the maximum number of working hours for foreigners during the academic year,
- Easing the financial requirements for the D-2 visa,
- Expanding opportunities and simplifying the process of employing graduates in Korea after completing an academic course,
- Increasing enrollment through Korean educational centers in 22 countries, including 9 key regions, including Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan,
- Launch of additional scholarship and language programs for international students.
Against the background of 2024, the increase in students from abroad was 16% (by August of this year), against the background of 2023 - 47%.
