Why a Mongolian computer engineering student is leaving Korea for China

Michelle, a Mongolian student working as an undergraduate researcher in Korea, speaks with Hankook Ilbo during an interview at a laboratory at Gachon University in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, in February. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-yeon

By Hankookilbo

• Published Jul 4, 2026 12:05 AM KST

Paltry support, exclusionary lab culture, tricky visa procedures and bleak prospects drive foreign students elsewhere

When Michelle, a 22-year-old student from Mongolia, came to Korea to study computer engineering, her talent did not go unnoticed for long.

A professor at Gachon University recruited her as an undergraduate researcher last winter. Soon afterward, she became the first author of an academic paper and the star of a news article taped to the laboratory door like a poster. The headline: “Third-year computer engineering student publishes first-author paper in leading Korean academic journal.”

Michelle had devised a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze football players’ movements, ball possession and tactical execution in broadcasts in real time. The paper appeared in a journal listed in the Korea Citation Index, a database of recognized Korean academic publications. Such journals largely receive submissions from professors and postdoctoral researchers, and papers must pass a blind review by multiple experts before being accepted.

For an undergraduate, publishing the research as its first author was a rare accomplishment. For Michelle, it meant earning recognition in the country she had chosen to study in.

Now, she plans to leave.

“For my doctorate, I’m considering going elsewhere,” she said. “For now, I’m thinking about China.”

Her case is not an isolated one. Foreign graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are steadily leaving Korea. Many arrived hoping to earn degrees, find jobs and build lives here, only to run up against barriers in research, employment and long-term settlement. Meanwhile, highly skilled Koreans who have moved abroad have continuously opted to stay there.

Working to survive leaves little time for research

A look at the numbers shows that international students make up a considerable share of Korea’s scientific talent pool, one the country can ill afford to disregard.

According to a report released last year by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (KCCI) Sustainable Growth Initiative, the overseas migration rate among Korean scientists stood at 2.85 percent, exceeding the 2.64 percent rate at which foreign scientists entered the country. For a country that continues to lose scientific talent overseas, foreign researchers educated and trained at its own universities should be an especially valuable resource.

International students already form a significant part of Korea’s future research workforce. According to Ministry of Education data obtained by Rep. Ko Min-jung of the Democratic Party of Korea, 5,686 international students were enrolled in master’s programs in engineering and the natural sciences at Korean graduate schools last year, accounting for 5.7 percent of all master’s students in those fields.

Another 4,930 were pursuing doctoral degrees, representing 11 percent of the total. At the undergraduate level, 32,136 international students were studying science and engineering, or 3.7 percent of all students in those disciplines.

Yet for a country that needs international talent to settle and build careers here, multiple indicators suggest that Korea does poorly in providing conditions conducive to a long-term stay.

Korea was assessed as relatively weak in its ability to attract and retain highly skilled people from abroad, despite its strong performance in educational investment and the development of science and engineering talent, according to last year’s IMD World Talent Ranking, an annual study published by the World Competitiveness Center at IMD Business School.

Specifically, Korea ranked 41st among 69 economies for quality of life and 61st for its ability to attract highly skilled foreign personnel, two indicators of how appealing a country is to overseas talent.

The Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning raised similar concerns in 2024, saying inadequate living and settlement conditions were limiting Korea’s ability to attract outstanding talent from overseas. It called for a dedicated support system tailored to foreign researchers to encourage them to remain in the country over the long term.

Michelle described the practical difficulties foreign students face through her own experience. Financial pressure, she said, often made it difficult to concentrate on her research.

“I didn’t receive a monthly stipend because I was an undergraduate,” she said. “So I packed all my classes into the first three days of the week, worked nine-hour shifts over the next four days and studied with whatever little time I had left.”

To receive a full scholarship, she had to earn an A+ in every course. She managed it at times, but not always. The hours she spent working often took away the time she needed to study.

Housing brought another set of difficulties. She initially shared a dormitory room with three other students, an arrangement she already found uncomfortable, but was later required to move out to make room for incoming freshmen.

With deposits and monthly rents near campus beyond what she can afford, she eventually found a place in Sillim-dong, southern Seoul. The compromise came with a three-hour round-trip commute each day.

Admittedly, Korea was not Michelle’s first choice. She had initially planned to study in China, attracted by the country’s strength in science and engineering, but its COVID-19 lockdowns prompted her to look elsewhere.

She said friends who waited out the restrictions and eventually enrolled in Chinese universities now live under vastly different conditions: full scholarships, monthly stipends of 3,000 yuan ($430) and free dormitory rooms, either to themselves or shared with just one other student.

“I would not have had to go through the same difficulties had I studied in China,” she said. “What I envision is an environment where I can devote myself fully to research.”

Michelle, who had already published a paper as its first author while still an undergraduate, had made up her mind to leave Korea.

Inside the lab after recruitment

For international students, the difficulties extend into the workplace as well. Arpita, 27, who earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer engineering at the University of Mumbai and is now pursuing a doctorate in cybersecurity at Sejong University, said there were times when the lab’s exclusionary culture became unmistakable.

When a laboratory requires reports to be written in Korean, for instance, foreign researchers are effectively shut out. Now in the fourth year of her doctoral program, Arpita is one of the lab’s most senior members, behind only a research professor. Yet she is still often confined to assisting with parts of experiments rather than taking on a larger role.

Arpita has options beyond remaining in Korea. She was once approached by a multinational company based in India with a recruitment package that included housing and an annual salary of more than 200 million won ($130,000).

But she turned the offer down. More interested in starting her own business than working as a researcher, she said she wanted, for now, to remain in Korea and build a life here for as long as she could.

Another difficulty frequently cited by foreign graduates is securing a work visa after completing their studies. Many return home even after earning a master’s degree because they are unable to transition to an E-7 visa for skilled professionals.

“The E-7 visa application must be filed through the institution or company employing the applicant, which means it can easily fall through the cracks if the employer or supervising professor does not pay close attention,” said the marketing manager at KLiK, a recruitment and job-matching platform for foreign nationals in Korea.

“Even with an advanced degree, foreign nationals must be affiliated with an organization from the moment they graduate,” he added. “As a result, many endure exploitative companies with poor working conditions or irregular pay because they need to maintain their status, only to eventually give up and return home.”

Turning settlement into policy

While Korea fumbles, other countries are racing ahead to attract foreign talent in STEM and AI, including through fast-track visa programs.

The United States, for example, offers the National Interest Waiver, which allows foreign nationals with exceptional research achievements in STEM fields to apply for permanent residency without employer sponsorship. Similarly, Canada’s Global Talent Stream can issue work permits within two weeks to foreign professionals hired by innovative Canadian companies and provide a pathway to permanent residency in roughly two years.

Korea launched its own fast-track visa program, K-STAR, this year. The program allows foreign students who earn master’s or doctoral degrees in science and engineering from one of 32 research-focused universities to receive an F-2 long-term residence visa on the recommendation of the university president, even before securing employment.

But critics say that lowering the visa threshold does not necessarily translate into employment or long-term settlement when graduates are still largely left to find jobs on their own.

“In Korea’s science and engineering fields, the higher a person performs, the more likely they are to move abroad, entrenching a system in which the most capable are also the most likely to leave,” said Kim Cheon-gu, a research fellow at KCCI's Sustainable Growth Initiative.

“Rather than trying to lure back talent that has already left, Korea should create conditions that make foreign talent already here both willing and able to stay, ensuring that the outflow of Korean talent is at least offset by skilled people coming in.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.