International students face endless roadblocks to joining Korea’s workforce

International students in Korea face challenges with part-time jobs and post-graduation employment. However, the country could learn from Canada and Japan on managing international students for long-term settlement and contribution.

International students attend the Global Talent Fair at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

A 21-year-old student from Myanmar, wanting to be identified as Kyo, worked part-time at a sushi restaurant, but didn't get a month's worth of salary.

The student worked between March and August, not receiving the last month's salary of 500,000 won ($381.60).

Kyo isn't the only one who wasn't paid. Five other Burmese students, who also worked with the student at the sushi restaurant, based in Jeonju, North Jeolla, also didn't get their salary.

Luna, a 27-year-old also using a pseudonym, went to the owner to ask for all the students' paychecks as she was more fluent in Korean. But the owner refused, saying the students couldn't do anything because they worked without getting a legal part-time permit.

Those on a student visa can engage in part-time employment, but only if they receive a permit from the immigration office.

There were 226,507 student visa holders in Korea as of 2023, with many wanting to work part-time jobs to cover their tuition and living expenses. Despite the high number, only 21,437 got part-time jobs with a legally issued permit as of last year, according to the Justice Ministry.

No permit means no protection

According to a survey of 201 international students, conducted by Jeonju Non-Regular Worker Support Center last year, 64.7 percent said they worked without a permit.

In 2023, the immigration office found 1,306 foreign nationals working illegally, 245 of whom were forced out of the country. There were 3,404 found to be working illegally between 2018 and 2022.

"The current policies were designed based on the understanding that international students will be focusing only on their studies, and they don't apply to practical issues that students are facing," said Cho Young-kwan, lawyer and security general of Migrant Center Friend, which offers legal support and counseling on rights to migrants in Korea.

"We inevitably have to accept more international students due to the decreasing student population, and merely increasing the number of students and blaming the school and students for any problems that arise isn't the right thing to do."

The tricky process of tracking down postgraduates

Although help is needed, keeping track of students to offer proper help is a difficult process.

To avoid getting banned from accepting international students in the future, universities check their bank balances, and students' academic and living status, but no one is there to do the job once they graduate.

Among 27,321 students who graduated from universities or vocational colleges last year, only 8.2 percent got jobs in Korea, according to the Korea Educational Development Institute.

Another 11 percent pursued higher degrees and 28.6 percent returned to their home countries. However, the whereabouts of the remaining 52.5 percent are unknown, with the students' status labeled as "unidentified."

Experts predict that the majority of these unidentified postgraduates are illegally staying in Korea. A total of 35,504 people were recorded to be staying in Korea illegally as of last year.

Some students choose the safe option of remaining enrolled as a student until they find a job.

Shokir John, an Uzbek student in his fifth year at Inha University, postponed his graduation to earn some time until he finds a job in Korea. [SON SUNG-BAE]

Shokir John is a 23-year-old Uzbek student majoring in international affairs, currently in his fifth year at Inha University.

"I postponed my graduation so that I have more time to find a job in marketing or trade sectors in Korea," said John.

He is currently preparing for Toeic, one of the essential tests required to apply to Korean companies.

"Uzbek students pick Korea as a place to study since tuition is cheaper than Japan and because the country is safer than the United States," said John. "But it's extremely difficult to land a job in a Korean company or an Uzbek company in Korea."

Korea should build a control tower referring to other nations' examples

To better handle the situation, Korea could look toward Canada and Japan for precedent trials and come up with plans to form a designated organization.

Canada is home to 800,000 international students as of 2022, with many of them deciding to settle down.

Among 437,600 people who got permanent residency visas the same year, 12 percent were international students.

However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced on Feb. 22 that Canada will limit the entrance of international students for two years.

The government will cut down the study permit quota by 35 percent, issuing it to 360,000 students compared to 550,000 last year.

Higher bars will be set for some work permits, as the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) will no longer be issued starting in September.

PGWP was issued to students that completed programs from designated educational institutions, but was criticized because universities didn't properly manage their students.

According to Marc Miller, minister of immigration, stopping PGWP is an approach to "protect the system that has become prone to abuse as a business for making profits."

Canada's plan to downsize the international student quota is to resolve the social problems that stemmed from the rapid influx.

Justin Shim, the director of CanNest Immigration Consulting pointed out problems such as illegal employment and rising housing prices as reasons for the sizing down of international students in Canada. [LEE YOUNG-GEUN]

"Following the large increase in the number of international students, major social problems like illegal employment and increasing housing prices arose, along with many inadequate educational institutions being created," said Justin Shim, an IRCC-certified immigration consultant. "Canada views international students as potential immigrants, which is why IRCC works closely with the related departments to decide on new policies."

Japan, facing a similar population crisis to Korea, has been focusing on accepting international students, helping them get a job, and ultimately making them settle down, since the mid-2000s.

International students who graduated from Japan between April 2021 and March 2022 have an employment rate of 37.7 percent, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

That's 4.6 times as high compared to the 8.2 percent in Korea.

Park Ju-hyun, a researcher at the Migration Research and Training Centre, said Japan was able to achieve the feat due to establishing a cooperation system between local universities, companies and governments, offering internship opportunities at local companies and creating recruitment platforms specialized for international students.

Experts say that Korea should also refer to Canada and Japan and build a control tower that will be in charge of the overall process.

Cho Young-kwan of Migrant Center Friend, points out that there is a systematic problem.

"We need to design our visa policies to allow international students to get a job and work in Korea, but there's no organization that's in charge of that and universities are on their own," said Cho.

Some say it is important to remember that accepting foreign nationals should not be a mere short-term solution to universities struggling to attract students. There should be further considerations around how to help people settle and contribute their talent in the longer term.

"The government is welcoming international students to save the regions from becoming extinct, but it is not an easy situation as regional universities are running on chronic financial difficulties and international students need to start making money as soon as possible," said Chung Ki-seon, a former director of the Migration Research and Training Centre.

"It's crucial to keep in mind that the essential role of universities is to foster talented students."

BY SON SUNG-BAE, LEE YOUNG-GEUN, KIM DONG-EUN [kim.dongeun@joongang.co.kr]