Global Korea Scholarship

The scholarship pays a return airfare, the fees for Korean language training, tuition and a monthly allowance; embassy notices also list medical insurance and a settlement allowance. The amounts are set each year in the NIIED application guidelines rather than on the programme pages.

A master's scholar normally spends three years in Korea: one year of Korean language training followed by two years of degree study. A doctoral scholar spends four: one year of Korean and three of the doctorate. The language year applies where needed. There is also a research programme of six months to a year for those who are not taking a degree.

On the embassy track, you apply to the Korean embassy, or the consulate covering your region, in your country of citizenship. The embassy screens and interviews candidates and recommends a small number to NIIED; national quotas are small, from two or three places in some countries to sixteen across the United States in 2026. Candidates who pass NIIED's review are then considered by universities for admission. In 2026, 800 places ran through embassies, 24 of them for overseas Koreans, meaning ethnic Koreans without Korean citizenship.

On the university track, you apply directly to one of the GKS-designated Korean universities, which screens candidates and recommends them to NIIED. In 2026 this track had 1,200 places. General places were 717, split among a general strand (160), the R-GKS strand (480), a research strand (5) and an International Organization strand (72). Specialisation places were 483: 403 in R&D, for science and engineering departments linked to industry, and 80 in Global Network, for humanities and social science departments linked to global cooperation, where master's teaching is mainly in English.

Applicants and both of their parents must hold citizenship of a participating country and not Korean citizenship; dual nationals holding Korean citizenship are excluded. Applicants must be under 40 on 1 September of the year of entry (for 2026, born on or after 1 September 1986), although university professors from ODA recipient countries may apply if under 45. They need a bachelor's degree for a master's or a master's degree for a doctorate by 31 July of the year of entry, and an average of at least 80 percent in their most recent programme; some embassy notices express this as roughly the top 20 percent.

Anyone who has already received a Korean government scholarship is ineligible, and so is anyone who graduated from a Korean high school or completed a degree at a Korean university.

Embassy-track applications are made online through the Study in Korea website; offline applications are not accepted, and a submitted application cannot be changed. The core documents are the application form, a personal statement, a study plan, one recommendation letter, consent forms, a self-health statement, degree certificates and transcripts, proof of the applicant's and parents' nationality and, where relevant, an employment certificate. Optional evidence includes a TOPIK certificate, publications, awards and proof of descent from a Korean War veteran.

Scanned documents are enough at first. Candidates who are shortlisted or recommended by the embassy must then provide originals, with apostille certification, within days of the result.