Vietnamese top int'l student numbers in South Korea

The Korea Immigration Service recently issued a report saying there were over 200,000 international students in South Korea as of late February, an increase of over 10,000 from January, the Korea.net news site reported.

They included 70,212 from Vietnam, 63,859 from China, 11,974 from Uzbekistan, and 11,603 from Mongolia.

Vietnamese have been the biggest group of international students in South Korea since 2021.

South Korea is among the most popular overseas study destinations for Vietnamese. According to Times Higher Education World University Rankings, South Korean universities' tuition fees range between 8-13 million won ($6,100-9,900) a year, while housing and other living expenses cost another $4,200-5,500 a year.

International university students in South Korea are allowed to work 20 hours a week, and postgraduate students 30 hours a week, and unlimitted hours during holidays.

In some countries like Australia and the U.S., the number of Vietnamese students is around 20,000, putting them among the top five overseas contingents.