Foreign students who remain in South Korea for six months or longer will be required to subscribe to the national health insurance policy from March 1. 

The Health and Welfare Ministry made an advance notice of legislation focused on the requirement on Friday. 

Through a revision to related rules in July of 2019, the South Korean government had already made the state health insurance subscription compulsory for foreign nationals staying in the country for at least six months. However, those in the country for purposes of study have been exempt from the measure provisionally until February 28. 

The new measure will apply to foreigners staying on D-2 and D-4 visas, requiring them to pay up to a half of the average fees paid by locals. 

However, a further discount will be provided over two years, given the COVID-19 pandemic. For a period of one year from March, foreign students will pay 30 percent of the national average level. That ratio will rise incrementally to 40 percent from March 2022 and to 50 percent thereafter on March 2023 onwards.