By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter

Foreign higher-learning institutions are required to have at least 4 billion won in seed money to set up branches in South Korea.

But beginning early next year, provided the branches are to be situated in the free economic zones or on Jeju Island, they won't have to secure the money, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

The Cabinet approved a ministry plan Tuesday to remove the seed money rule, which has drawn complaints from foreign institutions seeking to enter the Korean market, in a bid to attract more foreign schools.

A foreign university needs to have 10 billion won to set up a branch here, while a graduate school should have 4 billion won and schools providing two-year master's programs should have 7 billion won.

``Foreign institutions don't have to secure the seed money if they plan branches in free economic zones and on Jeju Island,'' a ministry official said. ``The removal is in line with the government's efforts to attract more foreign schools. We plan to offer more benefits to them.''

Educational officials say the news will draw keen interest from many educational service providers from the United States, Canada, Australia and other English-speaking countries.

``Many foreign institutions have called for measures to ease the entry barrier and other regulations. The removal of the seed money rule reflects rising demand for foreign educational services in Korea,'' the official said.

The government plans to ease rules to allow more Korean nationals to attend foreign schools. Under the current education law, Korean students are required to prove more than five years of residence overseas for admission to foreign schools, but the government recently announced it would reduce this to three years.

It also plans to enable Korean corporations and investors to run foreign schools and students attending foreign schools to advance to domestic universities as curricula of the schools will be compatible with Korean schools.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr