'It's like buying a degree': Chinese students ponder future in South Korea

Doors are shut at a college building in Seoul amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Yonhap

As a long-time fan of K-pop who had been teaching herself Korean since her early teens, Sichuan native Liu Yue took what appeared to be a logical step and applied to a university in South Korea in 2018.

Fast forward to December, the 22-year-old is still in South Korea and is in her final year studying business administration. But her life looks nothing like that she had dreamed about.

"I always had high expectations about attending university in South Korea, thinking that it would be so fun. I was excited to do things like joining different club activities at school, making a lot of Korean friends, and travelling the country," said Liu, who enrolled in the prestigious Korea University in September 2018.

The spread of the coronavirus in South Korea that began early last year turned out to be the biggest blow to the expectations she had for her university life.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, the amount of time I spend at home has increased a lot. Also, I don't have that many friends nowadays because most of my Chinese friends have gone back to China during the pandemic," added Liu, who has been living by herself in Seoul since early 2019.

Liu is not alone in being one of the least expected victims of the global pandemic ― those who are unable to fully immerse themselves in their studying abroad experience.

As the pandemic switched most university classes online and greatly limited social activities during the past two years, many Chinese students studying at Korean universities have been left living in their own bubbles more than ever.

Even those who have been able to integrate into South Korean society have found that it has become even more challenging during the pandemic.

"A lot of those who found it difficult to adjust to life in South Korea have decided to return home," Liu added.

Since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in January 2020, South Korea has been going through severe ups and downs while dealing with the coronavirus.

Universities have not been safe from the fast spreading virus, and according to the Ministry of Education last week, 469 students at Korean universities were newly confirmed as having the coronavirus between Dec. 9 and 15.

A foreign student gets COVID-19 vaccine at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Oct. 18. Yonhap

Worries about international students studying at Korean universities catching the virus intensified recently when three attending universities in Seoul were some of the earliest patients confirmed with the Omicron variant.

The prevalence of online classes and worries about skyrocketing daily infection rates, though, had already led many Chinese students to return to China.

"Nearly half of the Chinese students who study the same major as I have gone back to China," said Gao Duomei, a 21-year-old English literature student at Korea University, who is originally from Shenyang in Liaoning Province.

According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 180,131 international students studying in South Korea in 2019, which dropped 14.9 percent to 153,361 by the end of 2020.

The number of Chinese students who entered South Korea decreased by 30 percent between 2019 and 2020, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service ― the country's national statistical database.

Chinese students at four major universities in Seoul said that nearly half of their Chinese classmates have returned home, although school administrators did not respond to the SCMP's queries regarding the official number of Chinese students who had left.

"This has been especially true if what you're studying doesn't require you to attend for physical experiments at school," said He Zhiheng, a 22-year-old electrical and computer engineering student at Seoul National University.

"Almost all Chinese students who study liberal arts at my university have returned to China to take online classes from there, whereas my schoolmates who are in the college of engineering are all still in Korea."

Chinese students who have chosen to stay in South Korea while attending online classes are living largely isolated from society, constrained in their rooms and forced to order food or cook for themselves.

"I feel very lonely because I can't see my friends often. I used to usually eat out by myself last year, but have not even been doing that as often as before because I am worried about the virus," said Wei Jinjin, a 23-year-old student from Hangzhou who studies Korean at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

"Nowadays, I am even afraid about the virus when I go to pick up my takeaway order. That's why now I just cook for myself, which leaves me with fewer food choices. I usually cook ready-made meals I buy from supermarkets, or simple Chinese dishes."

A student council member delivers food for Chuseok to foreign and Korean students who couldn't go home during the holidays at a university in Daegu, Sept. 15. Yonhap

Some students are forced to stay in South Korea as their universities insist that all exams must be taken in person.

"I would say 80 percent of the time is spent in my room. You try not to go outside because COVID-19 is spreading. I have been buying everything on [South Korean online shopping platform] Coupang. I only go out when I have to go to school for exams and experiments," added He.

For those who have remained in South Korea, the coronavirus has made socializing significantly more difficult, especially with their Korean classmates.

"I still get to meet new Chinese friends through Chinese group chats that are formed right before classes commence. But when it comes to Korean classmates, there is no way for me to get to know them when classes are all online," said 23-year-old Lian Tianyu, who is a business administration student at Sogang University.

However, some say that the issue of Chinese students not meshing easily into South Korean society is not a new phenomenon and existed even before the coronavirus, although the virus has definitely made it worse.

Wang Minghui, a graduate school student from Wuhan who is studying at Seoul National University, said that the first and foremost thing Chinese students remaining in South Korea can do to break out of the bubble is to put much more effort into learning Korean, making more Korean friends and actively interacting with society.

Wang admitted that he has been feeling more distant from his Korean friends, colleagues and classmates due to the online classes and other social-distancing measures.

The 27-year-old, who is married to a Korean, said it is a bit easier in his case because he has to go to school every day to work in a laboratory where he is the only Chinese student.

"I think if you only take online classes from China, you are not really attending a Korean school," he added.

"It's more like buying a degree. You can't meet any friends or professors on campus. The experience of going to school really means that you interact with people.

"I did notice that after the pandemic started, there were a lot of Koreans who felt negatively about China. This is understandable, but both sides should make serious efforts to understand each other.

"There are always people who are prejudiced against you, but they are only a minority. Chinese students shouldn't drift apart from the majority just because of how the minority thinks."