By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
Koreans spent $10.2 billion won last year on studying abroad and as royalties, adding to the widening services account deficit.
According to the Bank of Korea, Koreans spent $5.1 billion on studying, training, or practicing foreign languages abroad, while another $5.1 billion was remitted as royalties.
About 70 percent of the spending on overseas studies went to the United States and Canada, reflecting the zeal to learn English.
Spending, which stood at $957.9 million in 2000, has been growing explosively each year, recording $1.4 billion in 2002, $2.5 billion in 2004 and surpassing $4.5 billion in 2006.
The figure for the first quarter this year recorded $1.2 billion, down 3.4 percent from a year ago, but still much bigger than spending by foreign students in Korea.
Foreign nationals studying or training in Korea spent $46.5 million last year, about 1 percent of Korean students' spending overseas.
Korea recorded the third biggest services deficit in the world last year, mainly due to overseas studies. Since many students head overseas to learn English, the government has been thinking about measures to help them learn English here, including establishing foreign schools in Korea, easing regulation on existing foreign schools, increasing the number of native speaking teachers, and strengthening English education in schools.
Spending on royalties also grew continuously to $5.1 billion from $3.2 billion in 2000. The figure is expected to grow even further this year, as remittances for the first quarter totaled $1.6 billion, up 18.8 percent from the previous year.
Korea earned $1.9 billion in royalties last year, 37.8 percent of what it paid overseas.
chizpizza@koreatimes.co.kr