KOREAN NET

International students on Feb. 28 applaud while watching a taekwondo demonstration at a freshman orientation program at the auditorium of the Daeyeon campus of Pukyong National University in Busan's Nam-gu District. In the first semester this year, the school had 460 foreign students from 39 countries enroll including China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Japan. (Yonhap News)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

Ninety percent of international students at domestic universities wish to find a job in Korea, a survey has found.

The Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) on March 26 said the study on such students' career opinions after graduation found that 86.5% hoped to find a job in the country after graduation, with 90.8% of those pursuing associate degrees wanting to do so. A combined 805 people were surveyed.

On why they wanted to work in Korea, 35.2% cited a desire to continue living in Korea, 27.7% to earn a higher salary than in their home countries and 25.6% to get a job in their area of interest.

A foreign student needs an E-7 (specific activity) visa to work in the nation under an employment contract, but 66.7% of the respondents said the visa is difficult to get.

Under the visa system, holders of the D-2 (international student) or D-10 (jobseeker) visa cannot change to the E-9 (non-professional employee). If this switch is allowed, however, 58.8% of the respondents expressed interest in applying for the E-9 and working in fields like manufacturing for small and medium companies.

"Many foreign students strongly want to work in the country but their job opportunities are limited due to difficulties in getting an E-7 visa," said Lee Myung-ro, head of KBIZ's Division of SME Labor Policy. "We need a closer look at allowing such students to work in non-professional sectors (E-9)."

dusrud21@korea.kr