Nearly seven in 10 international students in South Korea who work part time are concentrated in low-skilled service jobs, according to a new report, raising fresh questions around employability as the country pushes to retain more international talent.
A study on the socioeconomic impact of international students in Korea, released by the Migration Research and Training Center, found that 71.1% of international student workers were employed in the food and accommodation sector, with the figure rising to 81.6% among undergraduate students aged 19-24.
Only 2.4% of respondents said alignment with their field of study or future career was a key factor when choosing part-time work. Instead, the most important consideration was finding jobs compatible with study schedules, cited by 54.4% of respondents, followed by wages at 24.8%.
The report indicated that such employment was “not functioning as a stepping stone” for relevant career experience, with international students increasingly concentrated in labour-intensive service work.
Regional disparities were also identified, with more than 80% of international students in areas including Gwangju, Busan, Incheon and parts of Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong provinces employed in food and hospitality jobs.
The study further found that 41.9% of international student workers were employed informally without formally reporting their work to authorities. Researchers linked this partly to current health insurance rules, under which international students lose a 50% reduction in national health insurance premiums if annual income exceeds KRW 3.6 million (£1,900-£2,000), encouraging some employers and students to rely on cash payments and verbal agreements.
41.9% of international student workers were employed informally without reporting their jobs to authorities, highlighting the prevalence of “shadow” labour practices
Migration Research and Training Center report
The findings come shortly after South Korea unveiled a broader “quality-focused” rethink of its international student visa policy, alongside new post-study pathways and talent retention measures aimed at moving beyond purely numerical expansion.
As previously reported by The PIE News, the ministry acknowledged that previous international student policy had focused too heavily on expanding numbers while insufficient attention had been paid to student quality and post-graduation integration.
“The ministry’s own documents explicitly acknowledge that Korea’s international student policy has been too focused on reaching 300,000 students, while quality, academic readiness and post-graduation integration have received insufficient attention,” Kyuseok Kim, director of IES Abroad’s Seoul centre, previously told The PIE.
The ministry said its new direction would combine “strategic quality management” with “expanded post-graduation opportunities” and a “growth ladder visa system” aimed at helping international students move more smoothly into employment and long-term settlement.
The latest report, however, suggests many international students remain concentrated in low-skilled employment with limited links to long-term career development.
The report also found that many international students were reluctant to report labour violations, including unpaid wages and unfair treatment, while respondents cited language barriers, discrimination and the physical demands of manual labour as major challenges in part-time work.
Researchers argued that international students were increasingly being treated as “cost-effective labor”, calling for reforms including a formalised employment management system, adjustments to health insurance thresholds and eased reporting requirements for qualified students with strong academic performance or Korean-language proficiency.
