Seoul, Sept. 26 (SANA) Suicide accounted for 17.9 percent of deaths among international students at South Korean universities over the past six years, according to Education Ministry data cited by Yonhap News Agency on Saturday.
The data, provided by the ministry to ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Moon-soo, showed that 84 international students from about 350 universities died between 2021 and 2026.
Accidents, including traffic accidents, were the leading cause of death, accounting for 34 cases, or 40.5 percent of the total. Illnesses accounted for 23 deaths, or 27.4 percent, followed by suicide with 15 deaths, or 17.9 percent. Seven deaths were attributed to unknown causes and five to other causes.
Annual figures showed 12 international student deaths in 2021, 16 in 2022, seven in 2023, 13 in 2024, 21 in 2025 and 15 so far this year. Suicides accounted for four deaths in 2021, one in 2022, none in 2023, five in 2024, three in 2025 and two so far this year.
Kim called for stronger preventive measures and mental health support for international students, saying universities should not focus solely on increasing enrollment but also strengthen counseling and other suicide prevention programs.
South Korea had 307,464 international students enrolled in higher education, including graduate schools, as of April 1, up 21.3 percent from a year earlier, according to Education Ministry data. Of those, 223,191 were enrolled in degree programs and 84,273 in non-degree programs.
FJ/ABD
