It was shown to have declined for the first time in four years that the employment rate of Korean students who graduated last year from higher education institutions, including junior colleges, universities, and graduate schools, fell. In contrast, the employment rate for international students rose.

According to the 2024 employment statistics for graduates of higher education institutions, which the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS) released on the 30th, last year's university graduate employment rate was 69.5%. This is down 0.8 percentage point (p) from the previous year's employment rate (70.3%), marking the first decline in four years since 2020.

On the afternoon of Feb. 28 at the university theater on the Daeyeon Campus of Pukyong National University in Nam-gu, Busan, foreign freshmen enjoy a K-pop dance performance during the 2025 spring semester orientation for international freshmen. /Courtesy of News1

An official at the Ministry of Education said, "The job market was weak, with the annual youth employment rate declining last year," and noted, "Various indicators that reflect the economy were sluggish, which appears to have affected the employment rate of university graduates."

By contrast, the domestic employment rate of international students rose. Among international student university graduates, 33.4% of those classified as "employment candidates," excluding those who returned to their home countries, found jobs in Korea. This is a sharp rise of 11.7 percentage points from last year's employment rate (21.7%).

However, regarding this surge in the employment rate of international students, the Ministry of Education explained that there was an impact from changes in the statistical survey method starting last year. An official at the Ministry of Education said, "From 2024, we have been able to collect foreigner registration numbers and use them in education statistics," and added, "Until then, it was not a full enumeration method, so reliability may have been low."

Even so, it is true that the share of international students finding employment in Korea is on the rise. The share of domestic employment among all international student graduates, including those not classified as employment candidates, rose to 13.8% last year from 7.5% in 2022 and 11% in 2023. Last year's employment share was a record high since related statistics began in 2007.

An official at the Ministry of Education said, "International students have very strong interest in employment or further study in Korea," and added, "Policies to attract international students to our universities or corporations also appear to have had an effect."

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