The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice will conduct on-site inspections of foreign students in April–May. They plan to comprehensively review the entire process from the selection of foreign students to academics, employment, and residence. The move comes after controversy erupted when Chinese students who forged their academic credentials transferred to Honam University, prompting a fact-finding inspection.
The Ministry of Education plans to select four universities each for the first and second halves of the year to inspect how they are run. It will focus on universities that need verification of materials submitted during the assessment for the Certification System for Internationalization Competency in Education, those that caused social controversy in the process of recruiting and managing foreign students, and those that are suspected of poor management due to excessively recruiting foreign students relative to enrollment capacity.
Key inspection items are ▲ the appropriateness of selecting foreign students ▲ whether Korean-language education and living support are provided for foreign students ▲ the status of academic administration, including attendance and study support ▲ and compliance with visa regulations.
The Ministry of Education will cancel existing certification if serious violations such as document fabrication are detected and will designate the institution as a "university subject to rigorous visa screening," where visa issuance is restricted. It plans to block poor operations through strong sanctions, including restrictions on visa issuance for up to three years.
The government will shift its foreign student policy from one focused on "quantitative expansion" to one centered on "quality control." In the results of the Certification System for Internationalization Competency in Education announced in Feb., the certification acquisition rate for general universities based on degree programs was 71.1%, but junior colleges came in at 28.2%.
The Ministry of Education will also systematize its strategy for managing foreign students. It will upgrade the Certification System for Internationalization Competency in Education so that universities can assess their capabilities to select and cultivate overseas talent, and it will build a management system that enables foreign students to continue from study to employment and settlement in Korea. In addition, it plans to designate dedicated support centers for foreign students to help create an environment for talent development.