Anchor: A wave of changes can be seen in colleges around the nation as the number of foreign students has surpassed 100-thousand in South Korea. Some have begun offering halal food and installed prayer rooms for Muslim students. KBS visited Hanyang University in Seoul and checked out some ways schools are catering to students' needs.
Kim In-kyung has more.
 
Report: A student wearing a hijab chooses what to eat for lunch. The halal food offered used chicken slaughtered in accordance with Islamic laws.
 
Hanyang University in Seoul began offering halal food after the number of Muslim students surpassed 300.
 
A female student from Malaysia says in fluent Korean that her campus life has gotten easier.
 
[Sound bite: Malaysian student studying in South Korea (Korean)]
"Even if I want to eat it, there's always ham or meat in it. I really can't eat that. It's really convenient for students that we have halal food."
 
Another student from Saudi Arabia heads to the university's Islamic prayer room with his friends after class.
 
[Sound bite: Saudi Arabian student studying in South Korea (Korean)]
"I really like that I can pray together with my friends instead of individually."
 
Hanyang University's Vice President for International Affairs Lee Ki-jeong says the school installed the room so that Muslim students may pray toward Mecca.
 
[Sound bite: Lee Ki-jeong - vice president for international affairs, Hanyang University (Korean)]
"We believe we should offer help to the students so that they may adjust well."
 
More than five universities in Seoul are known to now operate Islamic prayer rooms.
 
As the number of students has declined on college campuses in South Korea due to the low birthrate, universities around the nation have been trying to appeal to foreign students.
 
The number of foreign students marked 89-thousand in 2011 but fell slightly until 2014. It again exceeded 90-thousand last year and 100-thousand this year. The Education Ministry hopes to attract 200-thousand foreign students in seven years' time.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.