30 Vietnamese students 'vanished' in Jinju last year

Immigrant workers protest for their rights as laborers at Bosingak Pavilion in Jongno, Seoul, in 2018 file photo. The image above is unrelated to the article. / Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jin

By Kim Jae-heun

Thirty Vietnamese students studying at Gyeongsang National University (GNU) in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, have left the school over the last year, GNU authorities said, Wednesday.

According to GNU, 300 Vietnamese students signed up for its Korean language program, but 10 percent of them have become no-shows over the period of a year.

Given that national universities have stricter rules than private schools regarding admitting foreign students, the case is unprecedented.

“Some of our Vietnamese students for the language course have stopped attending the school but they did not leave as a group. We have lost contact with them and we still haven’t received any calls from them yet,” a school official said.

The GNU said it cannot confirm whether the students left to work illegally but it admitted that such a scenario is highly likely as similar cases have occurred in other local universities, too.

“I know other universities are restricting visa sponsorship due to cases where students leave to seek illegal employment. We will strengthen our entry standards this year to strictly control foreign students applying for language institutes,” a GNU official said.

Last month, the Ministry of Education conducted an investigation into foreign students disappearing from large university language institutes. Its results have yet to be announced.

“Many Vietnamese students registered in Korea in 2017 and we have been strictly monitoring the foreign students here since then,” the GNU official said.

The university said instead of the language institute, its Office of International and External Cooperation will now be in charge of the foreign students to prevent more of them from leaving to work illegally.

It also plans to conduct counseling for students twice a semester and keep an eye on those who they suspect will disappear during vacation periods. It will also provide extra scholarships to give financial aid to students while they are studying in Korea.

Foreign students will now have to undergo preventative education programs at school and the Immigration Office detailing what is considered illegal employment.

The Immigration Office is investigating the Vietnamese students’ whereabouts, together with the education ministry.