Catch the Foreigner PhD

Government and Leading Science Education Institutions to Launch Full-Scale Effort
Agreement on Visa System Improvement and Strengthening Employment Placement Programs

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The government and major advanced science and technology educational institutions are launching efforts to attract 'foreign PhD graduates.' They are preparing proactive measures such as improving visa systems and activating employment information services to prevent the outflow of nurtured foreign talents.

According to the University of Science and Technology (UST) on the 15th, representatives from the Ministry of Justice and four major science and technology institutes including KAIST gathered the previous day at UST's invitation to agree on activating such excellent foreign student attraction programs. Currently, South Korea is facing a decreasing supply of science and technology personnel due to a sharp decline in birth rates and avoidance of science and engineering fields. Even prestigious domestic universities like Seoul National University are struggling to fill their graduate school quotas in science and engineering. There is a growing call to utilize foreign talents studying in Korea.

Currently, there are about 8,000 to 9,000 foreign students enrolled in science and engineering graduate programs. Among them, 30% leave for postdoctoral programs in Europe or the United States after graduation, 30% return to their home countries, and the remaining approximately 30% wish to find employment in Korea. The problem is that even after coming to Korea, these students mainly attend English-taught classes and are not proficient in Korean, which hinders proper matching with companies needing research and development (R&D) personnel. Additionally, obtaining documents necessary for long-term residence after graduation (such as the F-2 visa) or permanent residency remains relatively difficult, posing another obstacle.

At the meeting, the Ministry of Justice also actively expressed its intention to implement policies that help foreign talents find employment and remain in domestic companies, including improvements to the visa system. University officials attending the meeting reportedly suggested that the regulations required for foreign students to obtain the F-2 visa are too strict and need revision. Examples include easing residence proof requirements and extending the validity period of admission permits (currently 3 months). The government recently introduced a system that issues F-2 visas upon recommendation from the presidents of the four major science and technology institutes and UST to utilize foreign student talent.

UST also decided to more actively promote the U-LINK project, which trains overseas R&D personnel needed by small and medium-sized enterprises currently underway. This project is a 'foreign student-company matching' system that discovers, nurtures, and connects foreign students enrolled at UST with companies that have entered or wish to enter overseas markets and require R&D personnel. Since 2019, 53 companies have participated, and 15 foreign students have been employed by companies such as Samsung Display (hiring six Vietnamese PhD students at its Vietnam branch) and LG Energy Solution (hiring one Indonesian master's student). Daewoong Bio and Dong-A Pharmaceutical each hired one PhD student from India, while Roche and Aekyung Chemical each employed one Vietnamese PhD or master's student.

A UST official explained, "All participating institutions agreed on the necessity of preventing the outflow of foreign students and utilizing them in the industrial field amid the growing shortage of science and engineering personnel," adding, "Especially, the Ministry of Justice showed a strong willingness to cooperate actively, including improvements to the visa system."

Meanwhile, UST was established in 2002 as a graduate university to train master's and doctoral personnel by utilizing excellent research personnel, facilities, equipment, and know-how from about 20 major national research institutes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.