By Hwang Jae-ho
The government needs to improve policies on managing foreign students before it is too late. The government policy on foreign students should be strictly based on quality. It is important to note that China and Japan, which are attracting around 400,000 to 500,000 international students, are strengthening the selection process and the overall management system of international students.
The quantitative expansion that the Korean government is working on does not seem easy, especially considering it extended the target year for 200,000 students from 2020 to 2023. Increasing the number of international students is not the only way for the government to work on internationalization.
Diversity must also be secured at the same time. Currently, the proportion of Chinese students is at 60 percent. To truly globalize and diversify the education industry, the ratio of attracting students outside China must reach at least 50 percent.
It is necessary to pay attention to students directly linked to the Moon Jae-In administration's new northern region policy (Eurasia) and the new southern region (India, South Asia, Southeast Asia) policy. Careful and customized consideration for each country or group is needed. In addition, the ratio of government scholarship recipients needs to be increased. One way to do is by establishing the Korean version of the "Fulbright Program," a scholarship that brings excellent students from all over the world to the United States for study and research.
Establishing a special committee that manages foreign students under the Ministry of Education is also urgent. On top of this, governmental organizations directly or indirectly related to foreign students' life in Korea, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, culture, sports and tourism, labor, gender equality and family, the law and the national police agency, must participate and coordinate government policies. The Ministry of Education must hold a meeting with university offices in charge of international exchanges and heads of such departments regularly to hear their voices and reflect them in the policies.
Universities should develop customized curriculums for international students and develop an environment and programs that can benefit domestic and foreign students.
In the 21st century, the importance of non-traditional security that covers the area of human welfare and safety is growing. Managing foreign students is now becoming an important area of national security. It is time for governments to approach and manage government policies on foreign students as part of "psychological security."
Professor Hwang Jae-ho is the Dean of the Division of International Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) in Seoul. He is also the Director of the Global Security Cooperation Center. He is involved in three main areas. He advises various government ministries, researches Chinese diplomacy and international relations in Northeast Asia and as the former Dean of the Office of International Affairs at HUFS, he is interested in the internationalization of education policy and public diplomacy.
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The quantitative expansion that the Korean government is working on does not seem easy, especially considering it extended the target year for 200,000 students from 2020 to 2023. Increasing the number of international students is not the only way for the government to work on internationalization.
Diversity must also be secured at the same time. Currently, the proportion of Chinese students is at 60 percent. To truly globalize and diversify the education industry, the ratio of attracting students outside China must reach at least 50 percent.
It is necessary to pay attention to students directly linked to the Moon Jae-In administration's new northern region policy (Eurasia) and the new southern region (India, South Asia, Southeast Asia) policy. Careful and customized consideration for each country or group is needed. In addition, the ratio of government scholarship recipients needs to be increased. One way to do is by establishing the Korean version of the "Fulbright Program," a scholarship that brings excellent students from all over the world to the United States for study and research.
Establishing a special committee that manages foreign students under the Ministry of Education is also urgent. On top of this, governmental organizations directly or indirectly related to foreign students' life in Korea, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, culture, sports and tourism, labor, gender equality and family, the law and the national police agency, must participate and coordinate government policies. The Ministry of Education must hold a meeting with university offices in charge of international exchanges and heads of such departments regularly to hear their voices and reflect them in the policies.
Universities should develop customized curriculums for international students and develop an environment and programs that can benefit domestic and foreign students.
In the 21st century, the importance of non-traditional security that covers the area of human welfare and safety is growing. Managing foreign students is now becoming an important area of national security. It is time for governments to approach and manage government policies on foreign students as part of "psychological security."
Professor Hwang Jae-ho is the Dean of the Division of International Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) in Seoul. He is also the Director of the Global Security Cooperation Center. He is involved in three main areas. He advises various government ministries, researches Chinese diplomacy and international relations in Northeast Asia and as the former Dean of the Office of International Affairs at HUFS, he is interested in the internationalization of education policy and public diplomacy.
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