Where do foreign students in Korea work?

Foreign students working while studying in South Korea are overwhelmingly concentrated in retail, restaurants and lodging, with most earning less than 2 million won ($1,390) a month. About 83 percent of employed international students worked in wholesale and retail, accommodation or food services as of May 2025, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics’ latest survey on immigrants’ living conditions and employment. The figures offer a snapshot of how international students are participat