Global Korea Scholarship program for international students


Are you aspiring for admission to an undergraduate, graduate or Ph.D. program at a university in the Republic of Korea? Searching for scholarships to cover your tuition and living expenses in the country? Learn here the details of the Global Korea Scholarship program that is open to all international students and researchers every year.

About the scholarship

The Global Korea Scholarship is a scholarship program funded by the Korean government. The scholarship program helps international students to come and study at the best universities in the Republic of Korea. Through the exchange of students, the program also intends to foster friendly relations between Korea and other countries. The scholarship is exclusively meant for international students and researchers only. Those who are born in Korea or have Korean citizenship cannot avail of it. A range of courses from undergraduate to Ph.D. level can be opted by the students at the designated universities. A total of 220 students for undergraduate studies and 1080 for postgraduate studies can avail the benefit of these scholarships.



Benefits of the Global Korea Scholarship

Following are the benefits of this scholarship program.
  • The scholarship will cover the entire airfare of the students.

  • A relocation or resettlement allowance of KRW 200,000 will be granted.

  • KRW 900,000 to KRW 1,000,000 will be given to cover the living expenses.

  • A monthly amount of KRW 20,000 is granted for medical insurance.

  • It is very important to learn the Korean language. As such, a quarterly sum of KRW 800,000 will be given for taking up Korean language courses by the students.

  • Tuition fee up to a maximum of KRW 5,000,000 per semester will be covered by the scholarship

  • For research students, there are grants up to KRW 240,000 per semester for research expenses.

  • Grants of KRW 500,000 to KRW 800,000 are made available to research students as costs for printing dissertations.

  • KRW 100,000 is awarded to those who show proficiency in the Korean language.

  • On successful completion of the study or research program, the students are given a completion grant of KRW 100,000.

Thus it can be seen that the Global Korea Scholarship is a fully-funded scholarship program that takes care of every expense of the international student. As per current exchange rates one Indian Rupee (INR) equals to approx. 16 South Korean Won (KRW).



Eligibility criteria

The following criteria should be fulfilled by every applicant while applying for the scholarship.
  • Applicants or their parents should not have been born in Korea.

  • Applicants should not be holding Korean citizenship.

  • They should be in good physical and mental health to endure the long duration of stay in a foreign country.

  • For the undergraduate programs, the applicants should be less than 25 years of age on the date of entrance to Korea. Should have successfully completed their elementary, middle and high school education before entering.

  • For the postgraduate or research programs, applicants should be less than 40 years of age. Before arrival, should have completed their bachelor's or master's degree, as the case may be.

  • Should have at least 80% or above Grade Point Average (GPA) in their last educational institution.

  • Should not have previously achieved a bachelor's, a master's, or a Ph.D. degree from an educational institution in Korea. However, former or present Korean Government scholarship scholars, who have more than 90% GPA and have achieved at least TOPIK level 5 in the Korean language can reapply. TOPIK is the official Korean language proficiency test for foreigners intending to study or work in Korea.

Proficiency in the Korean language

It is essential for every student studying in Korea to have a Korean language proficiency score of more than level 5 in TOPIK. As such every international student has to enrol for a Korean language course of one-year duration at a language institute located within the premises of the university itself. Those who already have the required proficiency of level 5 or above are exempted from taking the language course.

How to apply

To apply for the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) by the Korean government, the aspirants will have to first search for a Korean University, where they can avail of this offer. Once the university is identified, the university guides the applicant through the application process.

At the same time, NIIED, which stands for National Institute for International Education, a regulatory authority in Korea, also scouts for eligible students by inviting the Korean embassy in the countries concerned and also the local universities in Korea.

Applicants can then apply either at the Korean embassy in their respective countries or they may directly apply at the university where they are interested to take admission. Along with the application, all the supporting documents are also to be submitted. The Korean embassy or the university concerned shortlists the applications, which are then sent to NIIED for final approval. NIIED evaluates the applications for the suitability of the students for the scholarships and accordingly notifies the embassies and the universities of the final selections.

The details of the selections and other guidelines can be obtained from the notice board available on the GKS website.



Application datelines

The undergraduate and the graduate programmes have different datelines as given below.

Undergraduates

  • Notifications are released in the month of September for admissions in the succeeding year.
  • By November the embassy or the university recommednds the candidates to NIIED.
  • By January, in the next year, the results are declared.
  • By February end, the selected students have to arrive in Korea

Graduates

  • Notifications are released by February every year.
  • By March-April of the same year, the candidates get recommended by the respective embassy or university.
  • By June of the year results are released.
  • By August, the arrival is to be completed.

For details of the scholarship program, the applicants can go through the link: Global Korea Scholarship

For other international scholarship programs, prospective students can go through the study abroad section of this website.


Article by Dhruv
Dhruv, an electrical engineer by training and profession, loves to dabble in writing during his free time. For the last seven years, he has been a content writer creating content for ISC on topics mostly related to school and college admissions.

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