Uzbek students told to leave Korea as university, Justice Ministry trade accusations

This photo is unrelated to the story. Incoming visitors at the Incheon Airport in this file photo dated Feb. 17, 2020. [NEWS1]

About 20 students from Uzbekistan were told to leave the country or else, according to a local news report.

The students at Hanshin University in Osan, Gyeonggi, were packed onto a bus by the university staff members without knowing where they were headed to on Nov. 27, only to be dropped off at Incheon International Airport and asked to leave the country or face the authorities, according to a recent report by a local newspaper, the Hankyoreh.

“They told us that if we want to return to Korea, we need to leave now,” one Uzbek student reportedly told the paper.

According to the report on Tuesday, at least 22 Uzbek students studying the Korean language at Hanshin University had savings accounts in Korea that had dropped below the 10 million won ($7,600) level needed to maintain their student visas.

Students must maintain the minimum 10 million won for at least three months.

This is a regulation stipulated by the Justice Ministry, and one that the ministry said it had “informed the university staff members well before the students came to Korea to study,” according to its statement shared with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Tuesday.

“In May, when university officials visited the Pyeongtaek branch office [of the ministry] to ask about measures related to international students, a visa officer explained the financial status requirement, and the office explained to the university the relevant regulations several times after that, including in August,” said the ministry in its statement.

However, according to the Hankyoreh, the university argued that the ministry misinformed them about the regulations by telling them that the students only needed to prove the minimum amount in their account for one day.

The university also told the Hankyoreh that they feared the students who didn’t have enough money in their accounts would try to stay in Korea regardless or go on the lam to overstay their visas and “become illegal immigrants.”

Hanshin University has yet to respond to inquiries.

The ministry said that no immigration officers at Incheon airport took part in the process of the Uzbek students’ departure from Korea on Nov. 27.

The police in Osan were investigating staff members at the university as of Tuesday after some family members of the Uzbek students who are residents in Korea reported the case. Some of the Uzbek students who were told to leave the country were living in Korea with their relatives, according to the police.

In a separate case concerning a group of international students at Gwangju Women’s University, the ministry found nine students had submitted fake documents for their visa applications in October and deported them on Nov. 1.

According to the Korean Educational Development Institute, the number of international students in Korea grew steadily from around 83,000 in 2000 to 166,000 in 2022, pursuing both degree and non-degree studies in Korea's universities.

Education Minister Lee Ju-ho recently voiced hopes of attracting 300,000 international students by 2027.

However, the dropout rate of international students has been growing, and more students are overstaying their visas. According to the Justice Ministry's records released by People Power Party Rep. Lee Tae-gyu, around 36,000 international students have overstayed their visas as of July this year.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]