The government is shifting its policy on international students from expanding recruitment to strengthening oversight. It will adjust policies, which were designed to attract more international students, to focus on providing quality educational services and thoroughly managing student records.
The Ministry of Education on the 8th released an "innovation strategy for fostering foreign international student talent." According to the Ministry of Education, there have recently been cases of student harm caused by false or exaggerated advertisements by some study-abroad agencies and irregularities involving attempts to enroll with fake diplomas. In response, the government will operate an official government platform so overseas students can enroll in Korean universities through reliable channels, and for universities recruiting international students, it will strengthen the "Certification for Internationalization Competency in Education" to clarify responsibility for student management. In particular, it plans to regulate universities that do not meet basic educational conditions so they cannot recruit new international students, including by restricting visa issuance.
This year, the number of international students in Korea stands at 307,464, meaning the goal of attracting 300,000 international students by 2027, set in the "plan to enhance the educational competitiveness for international students" released in 2023, has been achieved early. An official at the Ministry of Education said, "Quantitative targets related to international students have already been achieved," adding, "We prepared the 'innovation strategy for fostering international student talent' with a focus on how to educate and how to cultivate growth."
The Ministry of Education will prepare a "standard agreement" so that universities recruiting students through overseas study-abroad agencies manage the agencies' recruitment processes responsibly, and will distribute it in the second half of this year. Matters essential to protecting international students will be made mandatory by revising relevant laws and regulations. It will also distribute guidelines for foreign degree verification procedures so that fake academic credentials by international students can be screened during transfer admissions.
It will also expand local-language information on Korean universities within the "Korean Study Comprehensive System" so overseas students can enroll in Korean universities through reliable channels. It will provide one-stop services for application submission and payment of application fees.
The internationalization competency certification system will also be revamped. The current system, which allows universities to select evaluation indicators, will be revised to convert core evaluation indicators into mandatory indicators. The standard for official language proficiency indicators will also be raised from the current 40% to a target of 60% by 2030, increasing by 5% each year.
Universities that have not secured basic educational conditions will face strict management in recruiting international students. Universities without institutional accreditation or those classified as "universities in financial crisis" by fiscal diagnostics will be placed in the lowest tier of the internationalization competency certification system, and their recruitment of new international students will be restricted.
Inspections will also be strengthened for poor academic operations targeting international students and for infringements on student numbers, and the government plans to impose strong penalties if illegal or improper cases are uncovered.
Minister Choi Kyo-jin of the Ministry of Education said, "The number of international students surpassing 300,000 means Korea has become a competitive country for overseas talent," adding, "We will focus on attracting and cultivating outstanding talent so that international students can build on their academic experience in Korea to thrive in our society and around the world."