China became the country where the most number of Korean students heading for studies, outrunning the number of Korean students in the all-time favorite United States.
According to data released by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources on Sunday, 29.8 percent or 66,672 students out of the total 223,908 who are seeking higher education abroad including those in foreign language programs are studying in China as of April 1.
The U.S. that had been Korean’s favorite for academic programs became the country with the second largest number of Koreans studying in the country with 63,710 students or 28.5 percent of the total. It is the first time for the number of Korean students studying in China to exceed that in the U.S.
The number of Korean students studying in China had surpassed 60,000 for the first time in 2009 and the number had stayed more or less around that level until this year when the number stretched by 3,749 students compared to the same period last year.
The U.S. that traditionally had been the most popular country among Koreans for overseas studies has slowly lost its popularity after reaching the peak in 2010 with 75,000 Koreans studying in the country and the number contracted by 4,395 on year to 63,000 students this year.
By academic programs, the U.S. still remains as the most favored country for those seeking bachelor’s degree or higher with 82 percent of Korean students studying at universities or graduate schools in the U.S. while 65 percent or 43,489 Korean students in China were in Chinese language or other secondary study programs.
The number of Koreans studying in either China or the U.S. took 58.2 percent of the total 223,908 Koreans studying abroad. Australia followed China and the U.S. with 16,251 or 7.3 percent of the total overseas Korean students, outrunning the number of those studying in Japan with 15,279 Korean students or 6.8 percent of the total.
In Europe, Ireland to where only about several Koreans had headed for studies showed sharp growth with on-year addition of 3,012 Korean students this year. - pulsenews.co.kr
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