The Ministry of Education has announced measures to attract more foreign students to South Korean universities.
 
Under the plan announced at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, South Korean universities will be allowed to open special academic courses and departments exclusively for students from abroad.
   
The plan also calls for opening bilingual educational programs for areas such as Information Technology, shipbuilding and automobile manufacturing. 
   
The ministry plans to encourage international students studying the Korean language to enroll in regular, full-degree college programs.
 
Currently, there are 84-thousand international students in South Korea, accounting for two percent of the nation’s total number of univerisity students. The figure is far lower than the OECD countries' average of eight percent.
  
Last year, South Korea posted a deficit of four-point-eight trillion won in the study abroad sector, as outbound students outnumbered inbound students.