Seoul: The number of foreigners coming to study in South Korea surpassed 500,000 for the first time last year, marking a more than sixfold increase over four years. This surge is driven by the global popularity of Korean pop culture, according to government data released Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, some 505,410 of the 18.94 million foreign visitors to South Korea last year entered for "study or training" purposes, accounting for 2.7 percent of all arrivals. The data, sourced from the Korea Tourism Organization and released by Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the ruling Democratic Party, highlights a significant rebound from the 80,084 foreign students recorded in 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The steady annual growth saw numbers rising to 152,195 in 2022, 313,980 in 2023, and 435,129 in 2024, before crossing the 500,000 threshold last year.
Of all the arrivals last year, more than 83 percent, or 15.82 million, visited South Korea for tourism. Business and official duty purposes accounted for 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent of the visits, respectively. Jin, a member of the parliamentary committee on culture and tourism, credits the surge to an increasing interest in Korean language studies and formal degree programs, fueled by the global boom of Korean cultural products like K-pop and dramas.
Jin stated in a release, "The global spread of K-content is now bearing fruit not only in short-term tourism but also in long-term stays, such as study and training." She emphasized the need for "tailored policy support" to assist foreign students and trainees in adapting to local communities, as the government aims to sustain this momentum.