Korean Government Scholarship Program for Graduate Students

The objective of the Korean Government scholarship program is to provide international students with the opportunities to conduct advanced studies at higher educational institutions in the Republic of Korea in order to promote international exchange in education and mutual friendship between countries.

Application deadline is May 22, 2009



1. Program Objective
The objective of the Korean Government scholarship program is to provide international students with the opportunities to conduct advanced studies at higher educational institutions in the Republic of Korea in order to promote international exchange in education and mutual friendship between countries.

2. Total Candidates for Selection
The number of candidates for selection will depend upon the country eligible for the scholarship program. For detailed information, please contact the Korean Embassy or Consulate in the country of origin.

3. Academic Programs & Institutions
- Academic degree program : master`s degree and doctoral degree (Ph.D.)
- Institutions: all the graduate schools in Korea
- Who want to enter specific graduate schools, such as MBA, international studies, medical, dental, and law schools, should get the separate permission from NIIED.
- Applicants who will major in science and engineering will be preferred in selection.

4. Application Option
4.1. Undesignated Application Procedure (158 candidates) : you can apply for programs with no limitation of the universities after finishing the Korean language course.
Candidates eligible for unrestricted procedure
- Specified in the mutual agreement between Korea and country of origin
- Candidates who are invited by the specific department of Korean Government
- Adopted Koreans who have alien nationalities
- Candidates who have excellent Korean proficiency

a. who have the certificate of TOPIK level 5 or 6
b. who majored in Korean Language and Literature or Korean Studies, and got the bachelor degree of it in or country of origin
c. who have the certificate of TOPIK level 4 and finished the four-year undergraduate course or the two-year graduate course in Korea
d. who have the certificate of TOPIK level 4 and have worked at a Korean governmental institution or a Korean company for more than two years

4.2. Designated Application Procedure (192 candidates): you can apply for only the entrusted universities designated by NIIED.
The entrusted universities and study fields will be noticed later.

5. Duration
Master`s course : 3 years (1 year of Korean language course & 2 years of master`s course)
Doctoral course : 4 years (1 year of Korean language course & 3 years of doctoral course)

6. Academic study course
After 1 year of Korean language training, master`s or doctoral course will be followed.
Students cannot change their degree courses from master`s to doctoral.
(1) Korean language course
Duration : 1 year (after enrolling the degree course, additional language training is possible according to the level of students`s proficiency)
Institution : Language instituition will be designated by NIIED
Students must be proficient in the Korean language because most of lectures will be done in Korean.

7. Qualifications
- Both applicant and his/her parents must possess the citizenship of the country of origin
* Applicants should not be a holder of Korean citizenship.
- Applicants should have an adequate health, both mentally and physically, to stay in a foreign country for a long period of time
* Persons who are pregnant or having serious illness may not apply
- Applicants who have already enrolled in the same academic course in Korea same as the one they are applying for will not be admitted.
- Persons who can contribute to promoting the mutual friendship between Korea and the country of origin
- Should be under 40 years of age as of September 1, 2009
- Hold a bachelor degree for the master`s course, or a master`s degree for the doctoral course as of September 1, 2009
- Obtain a grade point average (G.P.A.) above 85% from the last institution attended

8. Scholarship Payment
(1) Scholarship Period : 1 year of Korean language course and 2 years of master`s degree course, or 3 years of doctoral degree course
(2) Payment
-Airfare : A round-trip economy class ticket
-Monthly Allowance : 900,000 won per month
-Research Allowance : 210,000 won for students in humane and social sciences; 240,000 won for students in natural and mechanic sciences per semester
-Relocation Allowance : 200,000 won upon arrival
-Language Training Fee : The full costs up to 1 year (NIIED pays directly to the entrusted language institution)
-Tuitions: The full entrance fee are exempted by the host institution. The full tuition is exempted by NIIED.
-Dissertation Printing Costs : Up to 500,000 won will be reimbursed for the costs related to a dissertation printing. (Up to 800,000 won for art or physical education course)
-Medical Insurance : 15,000 won per month

9. Procedure for Scholarship Award
-Application handbook is available from NIIED website (http://www.niied. go.kr/NIIED_ ENG/NIIED_ MAIN00/main_ winter.jsp) and overseas Korean missions
-Applicants should submit the required documents to the Korean missions in the country of origin.
-Overseas Korean missions select 1.5 times as many qualified candidates as the number assigned by NIIED.
-Overseas Korean missions recommend those selected candidates to NIIED.
-NIIED selects the final candidates and informs the overseas Korean missions of the result.

10. Required Documentation
The following documents will be submitted:
(1) Place of submission : Documents must be submitted to the Korean missions in the country of origin
(2) Deadline of Submission : The date set by the Korean missions in the country of origin
The Korean missions must submit the documents to NIIED by May 29, 2009.
(3) Documents to be submitted
- One application form (on the prescribed form)
- Two 4cm X 5cm color photos
- One NIIED pledge (on the prescribed form)
- One self-introduction essay (on the prescribed form)
- One study plan (on the prescribed form)
- Two recommendation letters (from the applicant`s professor, dean, or the relevant chief of the school or the organization the applicant belonged to)
- One personal medical assessment (on the prescribed form)
- One copy of a bachelor`s degree for those applying for a master`s course
One copy of a bachelor`s degree and one copy of a master`s degree for those applying for a Ph.D. course
- Transcript
One transcript from an undergraduate course for those applying for a master`s course
One transcript from an undergraduate course and one transcript from a master`s course for those applying for a doctoral course
- The Certificates of a citizenship of the applicant and one`s parents if the applicant is a Korean resident abroad
- Documents that prove the relationship between the applicant and one`s parents
- Documents that prove the applicant`s working career in Korean institutions or firms (only applicable to those who have)
- Certificates of TOPIK, TOEFL, TEPS, or IELTS
- One certificate of health authorized by a doctor (only for those candidates who are filtered and recommended by the overseas Korean missions)

(4) Note
- Application forms and other program materials are to be filled out either in Korean or English.
Certificates credentials are to be submitted in the original, but those issued in other languages must accompany official translation verified by a notary public.
- Submitted documents will not be returned to the applicant.
- Incomplete or incorrect documents are subject to rejection by NIIED.
- In case of submitting copied documents inevitably, applicants must submit the original to the Korean missions and collate the two documents.

11. Selection Schedule
- Recommendation deadline : May 29, 2009
- Final selection by NIIED : June 30, 2009
- Result notice : July 3, 2009
- Entry to Korea : from August 25 to August 28
- Korean language course : September 1, 2009

12. For further information, please contact
- The Korean Embassy or Consulate in the country of origin
- KGSP Team, National Institute for International Education Development (NIIED)
Address: 43 Ewhajanggil, Jongno?gu, Seoul, 110?810, Republic of Korea
Website: http://www.ied.go.kr
(Korean) http://www.niied.go.kr
(English) http://www.niied.go.kr

Korean Government Scholarship Program Notice
Phone: +82-2-3668-1355 (For English),
+82-2-3668-1358 (For Korean)
Fax: +82-2-743-4992
E-mail Address: gukje@mest.go.kr(For English), intledjwc@mest.go.kr (For Korean)

13. Other useful websites
Learning Korean http://www.kosnet.go.kr
Universities and Graduate schools in Korea http://www.studyinkorea.go.kr
Understanding of Korean culture http://korea.net
Overseas Korean embassies http://www.mofat.go.kr
Visa and Registration http://immigration.go.kr