Is the Recent Korean Invitation to Indian Students Worth the Hype?

TL;DR

‘Study in Korea’ has been doing rounds all over the web. One may wonder if this is the latest reaction to the age-old process of globalisation. Although, all may seem benign from a distance, delving deeper into the issue can reveal some startling facts. This blogpost aims to bust all the wrong pieces of information being circulated online. Additionally, it’ll help you to make an informed choice of whether to take this opportunity or drop it instead.

Full Article

A net search for ‘study’ ‘Korea’ turns up dozens of websites that paint glowing pictures of a welcoming country, top-notch universities, scholarship opportunities and the reputational advantages of a Korean university degree. Nearly all the websites have been put up by educational consultants or large media houses that publish supplements aimed at students.  The posts on these sites are informative HOWEVER, they originate from press releases supplied by the South Korean government or by universities in South Korea.

Let’s have a look at some eye catching statistics

• According to South Korea’s Ministry of Education, in 2022, a total of 1,328 Indian students were studying in South Korea and they constituted 0.8 percent of that year’s total international student population of 1,67,000. These numbers were reported in  a news article titled: South Korea Could be the Next Big Study Abroad Destination appeared on May 20, 2024.
• From another source* we learn that in 2023 the number of new international students (all countries) rose to 1,82,000.  With a respectable increase of 15,000 international students, it is clear that the South Korean government wants international students and is making an effort to pull them in.  
• Nevertheless, this recent success in terms of attracting international students does not answer a basic question that is bound to arise in the mind of an Indian student, namely, if Korea is such a great study destination, why are so few Indians studying in universities of that country?

Is it all about the language?

• Studying in Germany also requires learning a language. The 2021-22 figure for Indian students in Germany was 34,134 and for the 2023-24 academic year the number is 42,997 in the 2023-24.
• What about France? Now there’s a country where you hit Language Barrier Deluxe.  The French feel sorry for anyone who does not speak French and they despise those who speak it poorly. Nevertheless, some ten thousand Indian students are doing their best to parlez-vous in the land of Dumas and Voltaire.

Is cost of living the problem?  

A look at the statistics shows us that South Korea is ranked at 38 which means that it is cheaper to live in South Korea than it is to live in Australia (Rank 15), Ireland (Rank 16), the United States (Rank 17), Canada (Rank 20), the United Kingdom (Rank 24) or Germany (Rank 36).  But with 7,000 Indian students in its grand total of 28 universities and colleges, even tiny (and much more costly) Ireland is ahead of South Korea.

How much benefit would a Korean university degree bring to a career?  

This question basically asks how Korean universities stack up beside universities in the US, UK, Europe etc.  (We are limiting the comparison to degrees in STEM courses.) Writing on Quora, A Filipino student (Bernard Jomari Razote, 2022 graduate of Yonsei University) writes:

“Okay for engineering, there are a couple of universities famous for it” 

• Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) – Perhaps can be thought of as the Korean MIT. Specialises in engineering and other sciences. Located in Daejeon, a city around 100 km south of Seoul. Classes are mostly, if not all, in English, and a large fraction of the student population is composed of foreigners. Has been neck and neck with SNU in terms of the engineering rankings in the past few years, although is regarded as slightly better in engineering because its specialty is in those fields.
• Seoul National University (SNU) – For me, is the Korean counterpart of Harvard. Has a very strong college of engineering, and is also recognized by the common people as the overall most prestigious university in South Korea. Has a partnership with Samsung for research related to semiconductors as far as I remember. Located in Seoul, although in an area called Gwanak-gu, which is nearby Mount Gwanak. This makes the campus not so accessible to typical hang-out places. 
• Yonsei University – My school. Yonsei (as far as I know) is not regarded as high as the first two, but still counts as one of the top universities in South Korea overall (Yonsei, together with SNU and KU, comprise a group of universities called SKY, which is an abbreviation that refers to the most prestigious universities here). Located in a bustling place known as Sinchon, which is a hot place for students (high schoolers and undergrads alike). Has a picturesque campus too (Yonsei has been the shooting location of various movies and dramas).
• Korea University – My school’s rival school. Korea U is ranked almost similar to Yonsei (although as a Yonsei student I would definitely put my uni slightly higher), and is located in a place called Anam, in the eastern side of Seoul. Has a very good looking campus too. 
• Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) – Similar to KAIST, is a university that specialises in engineering and other related sciences. Has a very strong research output, and is widely regarded as one of the top universities also for engineering. Located in a city called Pohang, which is some 300 kilometres south of Seoul. Would put POSTECH together with Yonsei and Korea U in the same tier if I were to judge it. 
• There are other universities that have outstanding engineering schools, too. For example, Sungkyunkwan University is famous for chemical engineering (one of its professors was nominated for the Nobel Prize I heard) and electrical engineering (Sungkyunkwan has a well-known tie up with Samsung). 
• Hanyang University also has been known to have strong engineering programs. 

In short, a lot of schools here have strong engineering backgrounds; it only depends on the other stuff you think would make your life as a student better.” Razote’s assessment agrees with the 2024 QS world rankings. In other words, an Indian STEM student could go far with a good Korean university degree.

But could an Indian student go far in Korea?   

An American, (Teddy Voelkel, graduate student from a Korean university who worked in Korea for ten years) has this to say about getting hired in Korea. 

In the words of Teddy:  

“It’s difficult for one and only one reason:  You aren’t Korean”. 

He says further:

“This carries two assumptions: You don’t speak Korean and thus won’t be able to do any work. You haven’t fulfilled what is expected of the average worker to get a job. The first point is easy to understand, but I think the second calls for some explanation.

In the words of Teddy, what do you have to do to get a good job in South Korea: 

• Basically, you have to suffer. You have to complete the requisite number of years in the South Korean public school system to graduate. 
• This entails cramming so hard for exams and attending so many after school programs that South Korea has one of the highest teen suicide rates in the world. 
• All this school work is done in order to get from one highly respected educational institution to the next: hard work at a good elementary school gets you into a top junior high, where if you kill yourself studying you can get into a great high school, where you won’t be able to enjoy extracurricular activities like sports, but instead stay at school until midnight every night of the week studying, so you can get into one of the SKY universities (South Korea’s top universities are Seoul National, Korea University, and Yonsei). 
• During this time, you will also need to prepare for one or several exams to demonstrate skills; a high score on an English exam like the TOEFL or TOEIC is preferred.
• If you’re a man, you also have to do your military service.
• Once you’re ready to apply to work for a company, you’ll have to navigate their ludicrously complex and convoluted hiring process, including spending as many as several days at some sort of “camp” where managers of the company will drill you on every possible potential aspect of any job you might even be remotely qualified to start learning how to do. 
• Ultimately, if you can get through all of that crap, you get a job at LG or Samsung or Hyundai, etc. If you’re not Korean, they have no way of knowing if you’ve done anything remotely similar to that, so they won’t hire you. I just want to note that nothing included in this answer constitutes anything I didn’t personally see with my own eyes.”

New developments on the issue:

This may be changing. Just a couple weeks ago, South Korea’s Ministry of Justice announced an expansion of its Research Student (D-2-5) and Researcher (E-3) visa programs, aiming to attract global talent in science and technology fields.

‘Why’ behind this policy shift?

• This policy shift allows top-ranked domestic universities to invite foreign undergraduate students as research students and waives E-3 visa experience requirements for holders of exceptional foreign master’s degrees. 
• It can be stated that the reason that the government is doing this is because South Korea’s population is rapidly ageing, its birth rate is the world’s lowest and they are simply running out of workforce. 
• An article on South Korea’s foreign talent push faces hurdles amid aging workforce, states that the new visa policies aim to attract global expertise as demographic and cultural challenges threaten economic stability.

Here’s are some points the article reveals while assessing the new Korea Pro policies: 

• Noting that South Korea has shown itself efficient in bringing in low-skilled labour to work at minimum wages and sub-minimum conditions, the writer asks if the country is able to attract high level international talent in key sectors like semiconductors, robotics and biotechnology? 
• Can it remain competitive in the rapidly changing world of high tech? He cites the present shortage in AI and big data sectors, calculated to be 12,800 and 19,600 workers respectively. 
• If current demographic trends continue, it is estimated that South Korea’s growth rate could fall to 1.5 percent by 2050.
• The writer says that lack of a centralised visa/immigration management system cripples South Korea’s efforts to attract foreign talent and retain them successfully. 
• Visa issuance practices differ across different regions and immigration offices, creating uncertainty for both potential students and foreign workers.  At present, Korea does not allow dual citizenship and this deters foreign workers from settling in the country. It means that the workforce remains transient and the country loses long-term benefits of foreign talent. 
• The writer also says that many workplaces operate primarily in Korean, thereby limiting the effectiveness and integration of non-Korean-speaking foreign workers. 
• He also points to the intensifying competition among countries to attract the best, brightest, most innovative people from anywhere in the world. 
• The writer flatly dismisses Korea’s pursuit of skilled foreign workers as half-hearted and a case of too little too late. Currently only about 5 percent of Korea’s population is foreign-born, significantly lower than the OECD median of about 14 percent.
• However, the writer does NOT say that Korean employers are exploitative and xenophobic.  For that assessment you have to go to The New York Times.

Returning to the original question — if Korea is such a great study destination, why are so few Indians studying in universities of that country?

It would seem that the obstacle is not the language, not the cost of living, not the value of a Korean university degree. The obstacle is doubt about Korea as a place for a person of Indian origin to build a career and a life for self and family.  Clearly the Korean government recognizes the demographic/economic threat looming over the country, it is amending its policies and attempting to reach out to international students/workers. 

Do attitudes of companies and the general public change as rapidly as government policies?  No.