Gwangju City News

Extension of Working Hours for Foreign Students to a Maximum of 30 Hours per Week

Foreign students studying in South Korea will now be allowed to work up to 25 to 30 hours per week, an increase from the current limit of 20 hours, in an effort to encourage their settlement in the country. The Ministry of Justice announced on June 23 that this measure would be implemented starting on July 3. There are also plans to extensively revise the visa system for international students studying in Korea.

To expand opportunities for career exploration, the Ministry of Justice has increased the maximum working hours for foreign undergraduate students from 20 to 25 hours per week. Additionally, for foreign students with outstanding Korean language proficiency, they will be allowed to work up to 30 hours per week. The methods of proving Korean language proficiency have also been expanded to include completion of social integration programs offered by the Ministry of Justice and completion of Korean language education at Sejong Institutes, in addition to the existing

Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK).

The scope of employment during vacation, which was previously limited to simple labor, has been expanded to include internships in specialized fields related to students’ majors. Additionally, international students participating in the Standard Field Practice Semester System, the internship system through contracts between universities and companies, as well as international students participating in compulsory field training, will be exempted from the requirement of obtaining a part-time employment permit.

The financial evaluation criteria, which have been criticized for being excessively strict when issuing student visas, will also be relaxed. The evaluation will be based on the Korean won instead of the US dollar, and the minimum financial requirements will be reduced from the current $20,000 (approximately 26 million Korean won) to 20 million won for degree-seeking students, and from $10,000 (approximately 13 million Korean won) to 10 million won for language training students.

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