International student suicides in South Korea ‘heartbreaking’

Experts have called for the provision of stronger mental health support and multilingual counselling at South Korean universities after it emerged that suicide had accounted for nearly one in five deaths among international students over the past six years.

There is concern that an aggressive drive for international talent has focused squarely on enrolment numbers while overlooking the need for culturally responsive mental health services to support the foreign students arriving there.

According to new figures from the Ministry of Education, 84 international students died across 350 Korean universities between the years 2021 and 2026. Of these, accidents were the main cause (34), followed by illness (23) and suicide (15). Two international students in South Korea are believed to have taken their own lives this year.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for Korean young people. According to figures from Statistics Korea released this month, suicide accounted for more than half of all deaths among teenagers and people in their twenties in 2025.

Theodore Jun Yoo, professor of Korean language and literature at Seoul’s Yonsei University, told Times Higher Education that there was a “deep-seated shame attached to mental illness” in Korea that discouraged people with mental health conditions from speaking up and seeking help.

Yoo, whose book It’s Madness explores the politics of mental health in Korea under Japanese colonial rule, described the recent data as “heartbreaking, but sadly not surprising”.

“When foreign students come here, they step right into the same heavy stigma around mental health that locals face, but without any of the natural support systems to fall back on...they end up suffering in complete isolation.”

South Korea has experienced rapid growth in international student numbers, hitting a 300,000 enrolment target a full two years ahead of schedule.

However, Yoo cautioned that any further international expansion must be accompanied by mental health support provision, including multilingual counselling.

“Bringing thousands of young people here without offering accessible, confidential, and culturally competent mental healthcare is a major failure and now a major concern for authorities,” he said.

​“If Korea wants to position itself as a global education hub, it has to be a place where these students can actually thrive and feel safe, not just a place where they pay tuition and get degrees.”

Kyuseok Kim, director of IES Abroad Seoul, said international students can face additional pressures in Korea, including “language barriers, academic expectations and cultural adjustment”, which can impact their mental health.

He added that it can be difficult for Korean universities to recruit staff with the relevant expertise to support a rapidly growing international student population.

“Korea also has a relatively limited professional pipeline for training staff who specialise in international student advising, intercultural support and related student services.”

South Korea has set a target to reduce its suicide rate by about 40 percent by 2034. Korean universities have pledged to offer further mental health and psychosocial support on campus to help students who are struggling.

rosalind.skillen@timeshighereducation.com