South Korea unveils new education policies for international, multicultural students

SEOUL – The South Korean government unveiled on Dec 12 a series of education policies targeting foreign students and those from multicultural families, as part of the country’s ongoing efforts to host more international students and accommodate the growing population of students who are non-native speakers of the Korean language.

At the centre of the plan is an overhaul of the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), the standardised Korean-language exam for non-native speakers, which the Ministry of Education said

will be fully digitised by 2029

.

Under the new system, TOPIK will implement a computer-based format that can be taken remotely, allowing test-takers to complete the exam from home. The ministry also plans to introduce an artificial intelligence (AI)-based grading system.

TOPIK is widely used by foreign residents for university admissions, scholarship applications and employment in Korea.

The ministry said demand for the test has expanded rapidly alongside the global spread of Korean culture and a steady increase in foreign students entering Korean universities.

The TOPIK reform was announced as part of a broader package aimed at expanding Korean-language education overseas and improving support systems for foreign students inside Korea.

As part of its overseas outreach, the Education Ministry said it will increase the number of government-dispatched Korean-language teachers at foreign schools from 77 to approximately 100 by 2026, while separately appointing 20 teaching assistants to support Korean conversation and cultural education.

Currently, the government runs Korean-language programmes in 2,777 schools across 47 countries.

The ministry will provide 260,000 paper copies of Korean textbooks to 10 countries by 2026, while also developing online textbooks and materials.

Additionally, it plans to invite local Korean teachers from 18 countries to study in Korea.

The government said it hopes the Korean-language programme’s expansion will lead to more students studying and finding employment in Korea.

More support for ‘multicultural’ students

Domestically, the ministry will roll out new support measures for students of international and multicultural backgrounds enrolled in Korean primary and secondary schools.

These include AI-based Korean-language learning modules, extra after-school and holiday programmes and a newly developed proficiency assessment tailored to students’ developmental stages.

It will also equip students with a list of common Korean vocabulary used within the class curriculum to prevent learning loss.

The policy push comes amid significant demographic changes. South Korea has seen

a surge in “multicultural families”

– a term used to describe households with at least one foreign-born parent.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, South Korea was home to more than 430,000 multicultural households in 2024, up 46 per cent from 2015, while Education Ministry data showed that over 200,000 multicultural students were enrolled in Korean schools in 2025.

South Korea’s total population of registered foreigners surpassed 2.5 million in 2024, accounting for nearly 5 per cent of the total population, according to data from the Ministry of Interior and Safety.

Meanwhile, the government projects the number of school-age Koreans to halve by 2040, intensifying enrolment shortages at universities. Reflecting this shift, the Education Ministry also announced changes to immigration policy for international students.

The government plans to shorten the minimum period required for foreign graduates studying artificial intelligence to obtain permanent residency (F-5 visa) from six years to three years, provided they attend one of 27 government-designated universities.

“The Ministry of Education aims to implement these projects swiftly to realise shared growth between the individual, the school and the community through education,” said Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK