The Korean Government Scholarship Program is one of the most popular scholarships in the world. South Korea The Korean Government Global Scholarship is designed to provide international students with opportunities to study at higher education institutions in Korea. This scholarship aims to achieve high academic qualifications, promote and increase international educational exchange, and strengthen mutual friendship between Korea and participating countries.
The Korean Government Scholarship Program, formerly known as the Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP), provides international students with opportunities to pursue advanced studies in undergraduate and graduate programs at top South Korean universities. This scholarship program is fully funded to cover many expenses, as the Education University Platform guide explains later.
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South Korean Government Scholarship 2025
The Korea Global Scholarship Program (KGSP) in South Korea is a fully-funded scholarship. The scholarship is offered annually for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral studies. The KGSP program selects more than 1,378 international students from over 155 countries.
200 students from around the world are invited to apply for the GKS 2025 Scholarship. Of the 200 students, 81 are selected through the embassy route and 119 are selected through the university route.
The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) is one of the best and most competitive scholarships in the world.
The scholarship program is similar to other fully-funded international scholarship programs such as the US Fulbright Scholarship, Chinese Government Scholarship, Australian Scholarship, Turkey Burslari Scholarship, Austrian Government Scholarship, Brunei Darussalam Scholarship, Romanian Government Scholarship, New Zealand Government Scholarship, Netherlands Government Scholarship, Hungricum Scholarship, Daad Scholarship in Germany, and many more.
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Korean Government Scholarship
| Host country | South Korea |
| Level of study | Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Research Areas |
| Academic majors | Most academic majors |
| Scholarship duration | From 2 to 4 or 6 years, plus an additional year of Korean language study |
| Language of study | Korean and English |
| Type of financing | Fully funded |
| Application deadline | From September to October (for undergraduate studies) – From February to April (for postgraduate studies) every year. |
Benefits of KGSP Scholarship (Korean Government Scholarship)
The Korean Government Scholarship is one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world. It not only covers your travel and tuition fees, but also provides a stipend of 900,000 KRW, along with medical insurance coverage. It also offers many other important benefits, including:
- Air travel (round trip to South Korea)
- Settlement allowance: approximately 200,000 Korean won (given one time after arrival in Korea).
- Monthly allowance: (for various academic qualifications) 900,000 KRW per month, (for research program) approximately 1,500,000 KRW per month.
- The scholarship covers the full cost of learning Korean for one year.
- The scholarship includes a medical allowance of approximately 20,000 Korean won per month.
- Degree completion scholarship: 100,000 KRW.
- Korean Proficiency Scholarship: 100,000 KRW per month.
- Full tuition fees covered.
- Cover the costs of printing the thesis or dissertation.
- Research allowance disbursement.
The Korean scholarship for research allowance amounts to 210,000 Korean won per semester for arts and social sciences majors. Medical sciences and engineering majors receive 240,000 Korean won per semester.
Korean Government Scholarship Admission Requirements
Below are the admission requirements for international students applying for Korean scholarships.
- All international students from eligible countries are eligible to apply.
- Korean citizens are not eligible to apply.
- The candidate applying for the graduate program must be under 40 years old, and 25 years old for bachelor's and master's degrees.
- The applicant for a master's degree must have a bachelor's degree or an educational level equivalent to or higher than a bachelor's degree.
- Applicants for the PhD program must have a master's degree or a level of education equivalent to or higher than a master's degree.
- Applicants for the research program must have received an invitation from one of the partner universities.
- A person who has already benefited from the Korean scholarship is not eligible to apply.
- The candidate must be in good health.
- The score must be 80% or higher on a 100-point scale.
- The cumulative grade point average (CGPA) must be equal to or higher than 2.64/4.0, 2.80/4.3, 2.91/4.5, or 3.23/5.0.
- Proof of English language proficiency is not required.
Note: Applicants expected to graduate must first submit a certificate of expected graduation at the time of application. If these applicants pass the final selection round, they must submit a graduation certificate (or degree certificate) by February 28, 2025.
Admission criteria
Universities catering to international students conduct 30% of their lectures in English.
Compared to undergraduate courses, most graduate program lectures are conducted in English.
Therefore, students are advised to enroll in the Korean language program to gain maximum information about their course as the scholarship also covers language training courses.
- Applicants who submit scholarship application forms must fill them out in either Korean or English to avoid disqualification.
- All original documents are required to be submitted. If students wish to submit photocopies of their documents, they must be certified.
- Employed applicants must obtain a “No Objection Certificate” from their previous employer, and in the case of government employees, a mandatory cadre permit is required.
- Stated false facts on the application form or intentionally concealed facts will result in disqualification.
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Grant documents of KGSP
In the following lines, we will list the most important documents required to apply for the South Korean government scholarship, provided they are translated into Korean or English:
- Letters of recommendation (2 or more).
- Student ID to prove nationality.
- Personal letter.
- Medical evaluation form.
- Copies of academic qualifications and transcripts.
- Proof of English language proficiency (if applicable).
- A copy of the passport.
- Proof of signature on the grant agreement.
- Copies of the Korean scholarship application form.
Duration of study in the Korean scholarship
In addition to the one-year study of the Korean language, the study continues:
- For Bachelor's: 4-6 years.
- For postgraduate studies and scientific research: 2-3 years.
South Korean government scholarship majors
All fields of study offered by participating universities are taught in the GKSP scholarship.
Online and distance learning programs are not included in the South Korean government scholarship program. Perhaps the most popular study majors available under the scholarship are:
- Korean language and literature.
- International Relations (including Korean Studies).
- Biotechnology.
- Engineering majors.
- Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
- Natural sciences.
- Entertainment and sports.
- fine arts.
- business management.
- Economy.
- Materials Science and Engineering.
- Food science and nutrition.
- Clothing and textiles.
- Philosophy.
- Biological Sciences and Technology
- mathematics.
- Physics.
- Environmental sciences.
- Statistics.
- Chemistry.
- Nursing.
- sociology.
- Communications.
- psychology.
- Political Science and International Relations.
- General Administration.
- Artificial intelligence for the Internet of Things.
- Logistics and international trade.
- International Business Administration.
- Global trade.
- NGO studies.
- Development and international cooperation.
- Energy Science and Policy.
- Applied physics.
- Applied chemistry.
- biology.
- Digital Humanities.
- Medical Humanities and Psychoanalysis.
- Strategic management.
- Marketing.
- finance.
- accounting.
- Clinical medicine.
- Public health and social medicine.
- neurology.
- Nursing.
How to apply for the Korean government scholarship
All applicants must first confirm the application deadline, application deadline, and admission requirements before submitting their application. Each embassy and university varies in its official deadline, documents, and admission requirements.
As forHow to apply for the Korean scholarshipThere are two ways: either through the South Korean embassy in your home country, or by going directly to your chosen university in Korea.
during Apply through the South Korean EmbassyThe candidate needs to submit all required documents, provided they are original or certified by the Korean Embassy.
But Apply through the universityThe candidate needs to prepare all the documents and submit them to the university itself.
Note: A candidate applying through the embassy can apply to up to 3 different universities, while a candidate applying through the university can choose only one university.
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Register for the South Korea Scholarship 2025
Make sure you have all the required documents ready, and follow the steps below to register for the scholarship: KGSP Korean
- Enter the official website of the Korean scholarship.
- Select “Korean Government Scholarship Program” and click the apply button.
- Fill out the application form, attach all required documents, and submit the application online.
- Download a copy of the application form from the official scholarship website, then fill it out and submit it back to the website via the official registration page.
Why choose to study at South Korean universities?
Compared to universities in European countries, South Korea offers good scholarships, low living expenses, and affordable accommodation costs.
Furthermore, all international students benefit from learning about different cultures, exploring international laboratories, and experiencing different cities in South Korea.
Sources
- Korean scholarship link
- South Korea Scholarship Application Form
- Application Guide and Instructions forFor Korean scholarship.
- Available Bachelor's Degree Specializations and Application Requirements for the South Korean Scholarship
- 2025 GKS Undergraduate Degree Program
