International students in Korea top 500,000 for 1st time on Korean cultural boom

Seoul, September 10 - The count of foreigners studying in South Korea reached over 500,000 for the first time last year, a sixfold rise over four years, according to government figures released by Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the ruling Democratic Party on Thursday. Of the 18.94 million overseas visitors to South Korea in 2024, 505,410 entered for study or training purposes, constituting 2.7 percent of total arrivals.

This figure marked a significant turnaround from 80,084 in 2021, when the nation was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and showed consistent growth to 152,195 in 2022, 313,980 in 2023, and 435,129 in 2024, before surpassing the 500,000 mark in 2024. Over 83 percent of these 505,410 visitors, amounting to 15.82 million, were there for tourism, while business and official duties accounted for just 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Jin cited the growing fascination with Korean language education and formal degree programs, fueled by the global popularity of Korean cultural exports like K-pop and dramas, as the primary drivers behind the surge. She emphasized the need for tailored policy support to assist foreign students and trainees in integrating into local communities as the government strives to maintain this momentum.