The president of Korea University sought to reassure its foreign community on Monday that its newly higher tuition would be used support international students.

President Kim Dong-one defended the university's recent hikes of international student tuition at a news conference ahead of the institution's 120th anniversary, which falls on May 5.

“Even when we go abroad to study, there are countries with in-state and out-of-state tuition, with out-of-state students paying around three times the tuition of in-state students who lived and paid taxes longer in the country,” said President Kim. “We don't have a big difference, as international tuition is about 1.2 times higher than that of domestic students.

“I also don't think there will be a situation where tuition for international students will become as much as three times higher than domestic students',” Kim told press. “International tuition is decided upon discussion with students in the tuition deliberation committee.”


Although the university is trying to be more global, changes come with a hefty fee for students.

Tuition for international undergraduates rose by 9 percent for the 2025 academic year, compared to a 5 percent increase for domestic undergraduates. Although it was the first time in 16 years domestic tuition had risen, international undergraduate tuition also went up 5.5 percent in the 2024 academic year.

The number of international students is also on the rise. There were 1,141 undergraduate international students admitted to the university in 2024, up 104.8 percent on year.

University officials said at the news conference that proceeds from the upcharge would help international students in the long run.

“Our university is one of the most globalized universities in Korea,” Kim told press. He highlighted the “globalization task force” that the university launched in late 2023, saying the group has been meeting “almost every week to discuss ways to make the campus more international student-friendly.”

The task force has carried out a number of plans since its launch, including the addition of halal options to the student cafeteria, the uploading of official announcements in both Korean and English and the equipping of lecture with real-time translation infrastructure, though the technology isn't being used yet because no current students with classes in those rooms needed the assistance.

The university listed Korean classes and entrepreneurship programs for international students as some additional areas the new tuition revenue would help fund.

“We are planning to build a new international student dormitory,” said Song Sang-kee, vice president of the university's Office of International Affairs. “We also have student buddy programs … because it can be academically and culturally difficult for international students when they come to a new country.”

Kim was separately ambitious at the conference, announcing that the university aims to become one of the top 30 global universities by 2030. The school placed 67th in the QS World University Rankings this year and 79th last year.

Regarding the university's 125 medical students who returned after a yearlong boycott but have been missing more than one-third of their classes, President Kim stated the university would “stick to the rules” and bar such students from moving up a year due to excessive absence.

More is planned to celebrate the university's 120th anniversary. It's working on 66 projects, which includes building construction and renovation, events and new academic infrastructure.

Some projects are complete, such as the Jung Woonoh IT & General Education Center that was built in March. More renovations are scheduled, such as that of the natural science student union building, which will begin in June.

A total of 657 billion won ($463 million) will go into the projects, which are set to be completed around end of this year. The university aims for 92.7 percent of the projects to be funded from donations. To date, it has raised 442.9 billion won, or 72.6 percent of its donation target.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]