Common Questions About Korean Scholarships 

 January 19, 2021

By  Smriti Ekka

Today I’ll be talking about the scholarships and opportunities to study in Korea.

I’m going to answer the very frequently asked questions that I receive on my YouTube channel and through messages.

Still, I would like to cover the questions.

The most common question is that if there’s any scholarship for the bachelor’s degree in any field ?

This is the most common question but the answer will be the same. For the undergraduates there aren’t many scholarships. In Korea there’s no distinction between the disciplines either you’re an arts student, science or commerce.

For example the Seoul National University has all the departments, it has its own law school where you can to LLB, it has engineering school where you can do B.Tech, it has computer science school, management school where you can do your BBA, everything, arts, music, sports, all the majors are there in one universities. There should not be any doubt about scholarships for bachelors regarding scholarship.

Coming to the scholarship opportunities for the bachelor’s degree, for undergraduate degree there are not many scholarships. The major scholarship is KGSP. There are very few seats, there are less than 20 or something. You can always go and check the seats available. The eligibility criteria is very high. They ask for 80% marks in your High school.

For a master’s degree with that I mean M.Tech etc. will be an undergraduate program. The major scholarship is GKS.

For that the application services sometimes in January of February you have to keep in check the website.

Check out my video on GKS.

There are two different methods to apply :

  1. The one method is through the HRD ministry in India. The Korean embassy in India will conduct the interview there. Later they will apply to the universities for selection.
  2. There is another method to apply for the same scholarship. That is what we call a University track. By that we mean you can directly apply to the university of your choice. you will follow all the process of the university who once the university decides to take you in then they will forward the application to the Korean government for clarification is there any seat left for the student or not.

If you apply from the embassy process you can apply them in the order of 3 according to your preferences.

They will send the application to all three universities after you are selected. If your application is rejected then your application will never reach the universities. In India through university track process your application will go to only one university. There the professors from your department will see your applications. It’s up to them whether they want to take you in or not.

Both have some positive and negative points. One more negative point is that if you are applying for Korean language field or Korean studies. The interviewers from the major universities like JNU might have bias towards their own students. They might prefer them over someone coming from a different University. Whatever method you choose, both have these similar facilities and both provide GKS scholarships for the undergraduate and the masters. That will cover your travel expenses, your living expenses insurance and many other small benefits.

Apart from that for Masters and PHD there’s a scholarship like the Academy of Korean Studies AKS.

There’s one from Korea foundation. These scholarships have very few seats, maybe one or two in a year so you can’t rely on the scholarships. But you can definitely apply, there is no harm in it.

Check out my video on AKS scholarship and incentives provided in it.

Eligibility asked for KGSP :

80% marks is required but in India some state universities never give 80% marks in the bachelor’s degree or master’s degree or even in 12th many state boards don’t give good marks so they also have a clause if you have been in the top 10% of the class, then they will consider you. So if you can get a concern letter from university or institution then that will be sufficient.

Let’s say you are not in top 10 or even in 80% score criteria still I would say there is no harm in applying because application is completely free you don’t have to pay anything so just apply maybe they will like something about your application or like your research plan anything can happen so there is no harm I would always say even if you have a 40% score in your bachelor’s degree, even if you are not in the top of 50% of your class but you are interested in studying in Korea and want a chance to study then JUST APPLY !!

Regarding the documents which are required during the time of admission.

All these kinds of information shouldn’t be answered by any person on the internet. For every scholarship there is an official contact person who is in charge of the scholarship. Always contact them to get the official information. Because no one has studied a 50 page document regarding the rules and regulation of the scholarships on the internet.

Every University has their own specific rules and regulations so official contact is the best idea.

Some people asked questions about TOEFL, IELTS and TOPIK

I don’t think you would be requiring but some universities may ask you to submit your score but most universities will waive you if you provide certificate from university or school saying that your medium of education was English, because people know that in India we have English as the official language so if you just give a random letter from your department or universities telling about the medium of instruction, then they will waive the requirement of the TOEFL or IELTS.

Regarding the TOPIK if you have it, that’s the best.

If you have some time in hand then it’s always a good idea to learn some Korean and get some TOPIK certificate. Even if you don’t have any background in Korean language you can still come to Korea and they will give you one year language training and chance to study Korean for free. Taking the TOPIK test is not the ultimate mandatory thing but it always helps in the selections.

I would recommend you to check out http://www.studyinkorea.go.kr

You will find a list of all the major universities.

So these were the common questions which I received and I decided to make a video on it.

Smriti Ekka


Smriti Ekka graduated in Commerce and Library science, and currently she is working as a content writer at TOPIK Guide website. She is a Korean language and culture enthusiast and has been working across multiple disciplines which broadly addresses narratives of similarities between Korean and Indian culture. Apart from being a content writer at TOPIK Guide she manages Annyeong India website and has had her pieces published in Learn Korean in India website as well. In her other life, she is a singer, rising entrepreneur, life enthusiast and a learner.

related posts:

Leave a Reply:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked

  1. Sir I want to know whether is there any University or scholarship where I can do my MSc nursing with this scholarship program

  2. sir, i have a question, few of my friends have told me that LLB is not available in GKS-U . is it true? i have search about it but haven’t found any suitable answer. can you please tell me about it?

  3. sir, i have a question, few of my friends have told me that LLB is not available in GKS-U . is it true? i have search about it but haven’t found any suitable answer. can you please tell me about it?

  4. I am going to do bba and after that mba so my question is does korean embassy provide scholarship for the both major one after another to the same student

  5. मैंने korean लैंगुएज में डिप्लोमा किया है क्या मैं GKS स्कॉलरशिप में मास्टर्स के लिए आवेदन कर सकती हूं………

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Learn Korean with Dr. Satish Satyarthi


on LKI YouTube Channel