Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
Visa rejections for overseas students expose cracks in Korea's rural rescue plan
The South Jeolla Province Office of Education building in Muan, South Jeolla Province / Korea Times file
By Jung Da-hyun
Vocational school in South Jeolla opens with only 6 students
A string of visa denials preventing about 45 overseas students from enrolling at a vocational high school in South Jeolla Province has cast a harsh light on structural weaknesses in Korea’s system for admitting international students to secondary schools.
As the government increasingly casts the retention of international students as a remedy for demographic and economic stagnation outside major cities, calls are mounting for more coordinated policies linking immigration and education authorities.
Jeonnam Mirae International High School in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, is set to open on March 9 with only six students, after the Ministry of Justice denied visas for incoming international students, barring them from entering the country.
The school had drawn attention as the nation’s first alternative vocational high school designed for integrated students from migrant backgrounds and overseas recruits.
According to the Jeollanamdo Office of Education, the school was expecting 45 overseas students from four countries — 13 from Vietnam, 15 from Mongolia, nine from Kazakhstan and eight from Uzbekistan — along with six domestic students from migrant backgrounds. None of the international students recruited through local Korean education centers abroad, however, secured student visas.
The education office said it has reapplied for visas for four ethnic Korean students from Kazakhstan whose applications were rejected, while also preparing to operate flexible and rolling classes and pursue year-round admissions for mid-entry students to stabilize enrollment.
The problem extends beyond a single school. Visas for 55 international students newly admitted across the province this year have yet to be issued, delaying their entry into Korea.
Five vocational high schools in the province — where a total of 77 international students have already been enrolled since last year — are also awaiting visa approvals for incoming students, leaving their admissions plans in limbo.
Similar cases have also been reported in North Gyeongsang and South Chungcheong provinces, where visas were denied for 32 and 17 international students, respectively.
The Ministry of Justice in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times photo by Jung Da-bin
The justice ministry said it has been raising concerns with provincial education offices nationwide since last year over the recruitment of young international students.
The ministry cited risks such as the provision of misleading information suggesting that enrollment could lead to employment in Korea, potential involvement of illegal brokers, as well as concerns over the safety and welfare of young international students studying alone in a foreign country.
The provincial education office stressed that the issue is not confined to a single school, but reflects broader structural inconsistencies between the operational framework for international students at vocational high schools and the country’s immigration control system.
Visa issuance standards were revised in October last year, halting student visas for high school applicants if the stated purpose was employment or long-term settlement in Korea after graduation. Under the updated rules, approvals are limited to youth exchange programs or study initiatives framed as educational sharing activities.
While the education office has operated vocational education programs for overseas youth since 2016, the revised guidelines did not clearly specify whether such programs fall under the suspension criteria. Nor did they provide detailed standards for determining what constitutes youth exchange or educational sharing programs, creating confusion in the visa screening process.
“The international student vocational education policy has been pursued within the broader policy framework of responding to regional population decline and advancing the internationalization of vocational education,” said Kim Dae-jung, superintendent of the Jeollanamdo Office of Education.
In response to the situation, the education office stated that it will move to establish a working-level consultative body with the justice ministry and the education ministry to build a region-based virtuous cycle model for international education.
Officials said the initiative aims to improve the international student recruitment system through closer coordination among ministries and to establish a structured pathway that connects entry, education, employment and long-term settlement in sequential stages.