Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Korea to ease visa requirements for researchers
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By Jung Min-ho
Korea will ease visa requirements for foreign researchers as part of efforts to attract more talent in the field of science.
The Ministry of Justice said on Monday that it will loosen the requirements for D-2-5, a type of visa issued to researchers at universities, and for E-3, a visa for people invited by a public or private institution to “engage in the field of natural science or in high technology research and development.”
The D-2-5 visas have so far been issued only to researchers with a graduate degree or undergraduate students who are invited by one of only a few schools that specialize in science, such as KAIST or UNIST.
The ministry said more schools will be permitted to invite undergraduate students from overseas, saying those included in the top 200 of Times Higher Education World University Rankings or the top 500 of QS World University Rankings will soon be able to take advantage of the visa.
Thanks to the policy change, foreign researchers without a graduate degree will be allowed to study at several more schools here, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University and Korea University, according to the latest rankings.
Previously, at least three years of work experience was required for E-3 visa candidates who do not have a doctorate. The ministry said such experience would not be required for those who have earned their master’s degree from one of the highly ranked universities or those who have participated in publishing influential academic papers.