Foreign students in Korea surpass 500,000 for first time as K-pop, K-dramas drive demand

The number of foreign students studying in Korea surpassed 500,000 for the first time last year, driven by the global popularity of K-pop and Korean dramas, government data showed Thursday.

Of the 18,936,562 foreign nationals who entered Korea in 2025, 505,410, or 2.7 percent, entered the country for study or training purposes, according to data submitted by the Korea Tourism Organization to Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the Democratic Party,  a member of the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee.

Tourism remained the dominant purpose for visits, accounting for 15,821,073 arrivals, or 83.5 percent. Commercial visits totaled 143,076, or 0.8 percent, and 73,303 visitors, or 0.4 percent, entered on official business.

The number of foreign students has climbed steadily since bottoming out at 80,084 in 2021 — during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic — rising to 152,195 in 2022, 313,980 in 2023 and 435,129 in 2024 before surpassing 500,000 last year, growing more than sixfold in four years.

Separate data from the Ministry of Education and the Korean Educational Development Institute, released in August, showed the number of international students enrolled in Korean higher education — including universities and graduate schools — reached 307,464 as of the first half of this year, up 21.3 percent from a year earlier. Vietnamese students made up the largest share, accounting for 31.5 percent of the total at 96,834, followed by Chinese students at 78,890, or 25.7 percent.

That increase tracked a broader shift in the age profile of visitors to Korea overall. Nearly half of all foreign visitors to Korea last year, 46.3 percent, were in their 20s and 30s. Visitors in their 20s numbered 4,720,515, or 24.9 percent, while those in their 30s numbered 4,050,916, or 21.4 percent. They were followed by visitors in their 40s, at 14.5 percent; those 60 and older, at 12 percent; those in their 50s, at 11.6 percent; and those 19 and younger, at 9.1 percent.

Jin's office attributed the surge to the global popularity of K-pop and Korean dramas, which it said has driven growing interest in learning Korean and pursuing formal degree programs in the country.

Korea's state-run Korean-language institute network, the King Sejong Institute, hit a record 239,020 annual students in 2025, more than double its 2020 enrollment of about 101,000. In a survey, 53 percent of learners cited K-pop and Korean dramas as their reason for studying, versus just 10.9 percent who cited academic or professional necessity.

"The global spread of K-content is bearing fruit beyond short-term tourism, driving demand for longer-term stays such as study and training," Jin said. "Customized policy support is needed to help foreigners who come to Korea to study or train adapt well to their local communities."

BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]