Korea's universities target more foreign students with international-only undergraduate programs
Published: 26 Aug. 2025, 12:48
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- LEE TAE-HEE
- [email protected]
![Students take a photo with Chung-Ang University's mascot Puang while enjoying the Global Fair held on May 9 and 10, 2024. [CHUNG-ANG UNIVERSITY]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/26/6efaab26-dc23-4fd2-9935-96ef03f04acd.jpg)
Students take a photo with Chung-Ang University's mascot Puang while enjoying the Global Fair held on May 9 and 10, 2024. [CHUNG-ANG UNIVERSITY]
Many universities have been creating undergraduate programs solely for international students, with the trend also continuing for spring 2026 international admissions.
Chung-Ang University will be creating three international-only undergraduate programs that will accept their inaugural classes starting in the spring 2026 semester.
The three programs are the Korean Language Education and Korean Culture major that will be created under the School of Korean Language and Literature, the Global Advertising and Public Relations (PR) major that will be created under the School of Advertising and PR and the new Department of Global Interactive Convergence Content.
The Korean Language Education and Korean Culture major will cover content about Korean language teaching and Korean culture, with students being able to obtain a Korean language teacher certification upon graduation.
As shown by its name, Global Advertising and PR will offer courses focused on advertising, public relations and global marketing. Courses such as Global Marketing Communication, Global Branding Strategy and Digital Media Strategy will be offered.
The Department of Global Interactive Convergence Content will look at the game industry and delve into areas such as AI, virtual reality, augmented reality and immersive media, with students offered internship opportunities in such fields.
Undergraduate international student applications for spring 2026 will open between Sept. 1 and 19, with the university also opening a second application window between Nov. 12 and 26.
Following the amendment to the Higher Education Act in 2022 that allowed universities to create majors that exclusively admit international students, many schools have been creating such programs.
Sookmyung Women's University is one of them, and has been operating the Division of Global Convergence as an international-only undergraduate program since March 2024.
After a year or so since the division was created, the university has begun expanding its international-only offerings.
![International students at Sookmyung Women's University's Division of Global Convergence sit in the Global Capability Strategy course held on March 12. [PARK SANG-MOON]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/26/f1085f28-ca3c-485d-9c89-19e2ba16fc04.jpg)
International students at Sookmyung Women's University's Division of Global Convergence sit in the Global Capability Strategy course held on March 12. [PARK SANG-MOON]
The university's Hallyu International College will open in the spring 2026 semester and will have three divisions. The existing Division of Global Convergence will be renamed to the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies and be put under the new college. Two new divisions — Division of Hallyu Studies and Sookmyung-CQU Business Administration — will be created.
Although dates for Sookmyung Women's University international undergraduate admissions are not out yet, applications for the spring intake tend to open around October.
Gyeongsang National University will create the Department of Global Open Major for spring 2026, an undergraduate program that allows students to take introductory courses in their first year and choose their major in their second.
Students will be able to choose from majors offered at Gyeongsang National University, except for those in fields such as health, medicine, arts and the College of Education programs. Students can also pick from the two majors that will be created under the new department, which are Global Korean Language Education and Global Business.
The university typically opens applications for the spring semester a little later in the year, with last year's cycle beginning around November.
Chungbuk National University will be creating the Department of Global Korean Culture as its international-only program for spring 2026, placing it under the College of Humanities.
The curriculum will focus on Korean language, Korean culture and media and content production, offering courses such as Korean History and Cultural Content, Understanding K-Fashion and Beauty and K-Culture and Cultural Marketing.
Being a department with only international students, the university will assign a counselor for the department to provide internship and career consultations and assist the students with their academic and daily lives.
The university aims to encourage students in the Department of Global Korean Culture to pursue double majors, and the department counselor will also help students choose the right second major based on their career path.
International applications for the university's spring intake tend to begin around October.
BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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