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International Students as a Remedy for Vanishing Regions: Bolstered Support Needed

"Kim underscored the necessity for expanding the countries of origin for foreign students. He noted that significant potential student markets such as South America and India remain largely untapped, thereby necessitating strategic national-level diplomatic initiatives."

"Kim shared that, despite a drop from 160,000 in 2019 to 150,000 during the COVID-19 crisis, the number of foreign students has climbed to 210,000 as of this March. The encouraging aspect is the upswing in enrollments in both degree programs and Korean language courses compared to the previous year."

"However, he raised concerns over the disproportionate percentage of foreign students originating from just two countries, Vietnam (73,000 students) and China (67,000 students), accounting for 66% of the total. He further compared South Korea's past governmental policies on foreign student recruitment critically with those of Japan, the USA, and Australia, citing smaller investment levels and lower prioritization."

"Additionally, Kim suggested that the government's approach to the recruitment of foreign students for universities should not be restricted to language or non-degree programs. He stressed that, while these programs hold significance, more emphasis needs to be placed on attracting foreign students to Master's and Doctoral degree programs. This, he argued, is essential to addressing the increasing shortage of quality researchers in graduate schools."

"He further accentuated the importance of enhancing systematic frameworks to support foreign students throughout their academic and professional journey - from undergraduate admissions to postdoctoral employment and entrepreneurship - enabling them to establish a long-term presence in South Korea post their academic achievements."

*Source: Interview with the University News Network in July 2023
*For the original article, please visit https://news.unn.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=549141
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