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.
Support grows for int'l students, but navigating system remains daunting
International students visit job booths at the Global Talent Fair held at COEX in Gangnam District, Seoul, Aug. 27, 2024. Newsis
By Jung Da-hyun
Opportunities grow for foreign graduates, yet visa hurdles persist
Editor’s note
This is the final installment in a three-part series examining the globalization efforts of Korean universities and offering expert perspectives on supporting international students throughout their academic journeys and into employment. — ED.
Korea is still learning not just how to attract international experts but also how to hold onto them.
As the number of international students grows, more are opting to stay in Korea after graduation. While the government, universities and companies are rolling out support programs and hiring initiatives, visa hurdles, limited access to information and a still-developing culture of inclusivity leaves the country in a state of transition.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, 42.5 percent of 1,207 international students said they are exclusively interested in finding a job in Korea. The largest share at 45.5 percent expressed interest in working either in Korea or in their home country.
A majority of international students — 55.1 percent — said they hope to find a job in the region where they currently reside in Korea, aligning with the government’s goal of encouraging foreign talent to settle across the country as part of efforts to address the demographic crisis.
Meanwhile, 37.1 percent said they prefer to work in the greater Seoul area, including Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.
A screenshot of the K-Work website
Amid a growing influx of international students and rising calls for employment support, Korea is slowly moving toward a more inclusive labor market. Job-matching platforms tailored to the needs of foreign students have begun to emerge in response.
One such platform is K-Work, launched in October last year by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency. This was designed to help ease labor shortages in small and medium-sized enterprises and to connect international students with job opportunities.
K-Work offers employment information and job-matching services, allowing companies to post job openings directly. By bridging information gaps between students and employers, the SMEs ministry aims to cultivate talents aligned with workforce demands.
Many of Korea’s major companies are beginning to open recruitment pipelines to international students. Samsung, for example, launched a dedicated hiring program for foreign residents in 2023.
Samsung initially limited its dedicated open recruitment for international students to three affiliates — Electronics, Display and SDI — but has since expanded it to 10 divisions.
The company also relaxed its application requirements. While the recruitment was previously open only to candidates with relevant work experience, two years of master’s or doctoral studies are now accepted as equivalent experience.
In addition to Samsung, other major Korean conglomerates such as LG and Lotte are also offering internship programs for international students that are directly linked to full-time employment opportunities.
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What more should be done?
Despite gradual policy shifts and expanding recruitment efforts, international students still face major hurdles in staying and working in Korea, largely due to the limitations of the E-7 visa.
Until 2015, applicants were required to work in fields directly related to their university major. That rule was relaxed for graduates of four-year universities in Korea, allowing them to apply for the E-7 without a major-to-occupation match. However, graduates from two- and three-year colleges are still restricted to jobs tied to their field of study.
Complicating matters, the E-9 visa, which is intended for non-professional employment, cannot be obtained by switching from a student (D-2) or job-seeking (D-10) visa. A bill to amend the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, aimed at allowing international students to apply for E-9 visas, was introduced in November but has yet to gain traction in the National Assembly.
"It’s extremely difficult for international students to find jobs that qualify for E-7 sponsorship. I’ve seen many give up and return home within a year after graduation," said Jung Bong-soo, head labor attorney at Kangnam Labor Law Firm.
Graphic by Cho Sang-won
A survey by the KBIZ Korea Federation of SMEs found that 66.7 percent of 805 international students said securing an E-7 visa for employment in Korea after graduation remains a significant hurdle.
The most commonly cited reason was the lack of companies sponsoring positions under the E-7 visa, accounting for 40 percent of responses. That was followed by the visa’s limited list of eligible job categories at 21.4 percent, and a lack of information about sponsoring employers at 19.6 percent.
Jung stressed the need for a more flexible system, suggesting at minimum the introduction of a visa quota.
"Foreigners who earn degrees in Korea are among the best equipped to understand and contribute to Korean society," he said. "But the rigid visa system remains a major barrier to long-term settlement."
Beyond visa hurdles, international students also face a lack of clear and accessible information, making the job search even more difficult.
"The information exists, but it’s hard to find in a clear and organized way," said Jose Calderon, a 24-year-old student from the Dominican Republic studying at Busan University of Foreign Studies. "Many people and organizations are offering advice, but it's all scattered across different platforms and worded differently. It’s overwhelming to figure out what’s actually relevant."
Shim Hwa-yong, CEO of Hirediversity, a support platform for international students, echoed the concern, noting that even with policy changes and growing interest in foreign talent, misinformation remains a major barrier.
"Many students rely on advice from friends, senior classmates or social media — and often that information is inaccurate," Shim said. "This confusion is one of the biggest reasons international students struggle to find employment after graduation."
A still-developing culture of inclusion also presents challenges, with many foreign talents encountering invisible barriers in Korean society.
One report released last year by the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies drew widespread attention among foreign residents after revealing that nearly one in three Koreans feel uncomfortable working alongside immigrant colleagues.
Seol Dong-hoon, a sociology professor at Jeonbuk National University, highlights that Korea needs a more strategic approach to help skilled international students settle here long-term.
"Rather than trying to make everyone settle unconditionally, Korea should build a clear system that identifies high-potential foreign talent and links them to viable career paths," he said. "We need defined criteria — who qualifies as a skilled worker, what types of jobs lead to settlement and which visas support that process. Without such a system, efforts to retain talent will remain inconsistent and ineffective."