I first set foot in Vietnam six years ago. My hobby is touring every nook and cranny of Vietnam. I also wrote a book called <The Two Faces of Vietnam: Unexpected Opportunities and Unfamiliar Risks of Business>. I loved the mornings I woke up to the sound of motorcycles in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which we know as ‘Saigon.’ Through ‘Saigon Morning,’ I’d like to share with you the various aspects of Vietnam that I loved.
In 2020, my Vietnamese friend who came to Korea as an international student has now become a full-fledged office worker. My friend, who used to say, “Even spring is too cold in Korea,” is already preparing for his fifth winter. My friend was studying for a master’s degree in architecture at Hanyang University. He struggled with the overflowing assignments every week and the eight-hour Korean language classes every weekend. One time, he said, “I’m thinking of going to another country after my master’s degree,” and I asked him, “Are you lonely and tired of studying among Koreans?” The answer I got was, “There are a lot of Vietnamese people in our lab.” My friend’s lab was comprised of Vietnamese students, one-third of whom. There were 30 Korean students and 12 Vietnamese students.
Vietnamese students receiving counseling on studying abroad in Gangwon-do. / Gangwon-do Office of Education
That’s right. These days, Vietnamese students are overflowing in Korean universities and graduate schools. It’s already different from when I was attending. The percentage of Vietnamese students is higher in the provinces. Last May, I went to a restaurant in Boryeong-si, Chungcheongnam-do to have lunch with university officials, and all the employees pretended to know each other. You could tell they were Vietnamese students. University officials said, “If there were no Vietnamese students attending our school, the restaurants nearby would suffer from a shortage of manpower.” They said that Vietnamese is spoken at school even during vacations.
In fact, Vietnamese students are said to be the biggest contributors to supporting local universities. In Vietnam, local study abroad centers and local universities compete to attract international students. Why are there so many Vietnamese students taking flights to Korea?
◇Learn Korean and triple your monthly salary
In fact, Korea is the number one destination preferred by Vietnamese students studying abroad. Last year, 7 out of 10 Vietnamese students who studied abroad chose to go to Korea.
According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, the number of Vietnamese students studying abroad last year was 200,000, an increase of 10,000 from 2020. Of them, 43,361 went to Korea. Next were Japan (36,339), Australia (32,948), and the United States (31,310).
Graphics = Chosun Design Lab Lee Yeon-ju
According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, there were 83,433 Vietnamese students studying in Korea last year. They have already surpassed the number of Chinese students (75,320). It is said that among the Vietnamese students studying in Korea, there are 39,411 male students and 49,32 female students.
Why are there so many Vietnamese students studying in Korea? Many people say they have a favorable impression of Korea or cultural affinity with K-pop and K-dramas, but I think the biggest motivation is economic. They think about “which country will give me the highest future income?”
In fact, there is a saying in Vietnam: “If you speak English, your salary will double, and if you speak Korean, your salary will triple.” This is because as more Korean companies enter Vietnam, there is a high demand for Vietnamese people who speak Korean. It is true that the more fluent you are in Korean, the more places will ask you to come.
Korea is a place worth living in, even if you have to pay for your study abroad expenses. International students have limited time to work part-time based on their Korean language skills and school grades, but there are many places to work and the minimum wage is high, so it is a good place to earn living expenses.
◇ Vietnam, a place with deep sorrows
As the number of Vietnamese people studying abroad increases, Vietnam is worried about ‘reverse culture shock.’ It is said that students who return to Vietnam are disappointed by the poor working environment and low salary compared to overseas, or they only want to take on important roles because they highly value their study abroad experience.
The biggest reason for reverse culture shock is money. It varies by company, but it is said that those who have studied abroad receive a monthly salary of 13 to 25 million dong (700,000 to 1.36 million won). In Vietnam, this is clearly a higher salary than other new graduates, but in Korea, it is less than the minimum wage (2,067,400 won). It is said that this is the reason why many Vietnamese people are reluctant to stay abroad.
Vietnam is deeply concerned about securing manpower. At a job fair held at the Hanoi National University of Economics in January this year, Vietnamese business and career education experts unanimously agreed that “lower salaries compared to overseas are the reason why international students cannot decide to return home.” However, they also pointed out that international students “need to recognize that foreign and Vietnamese companies operate differently.”
Vietnamese students I saw in Korea gathered together during holidays to cook food and miss their hometown. Whether they return home or not, their longing for hometown will be similar.
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For more information about studying and working in Korea, please contact:
C-KOREA CULTURE AND STUDY ABROAD CONSULTING CO., LTD.
- Address: 5th Floor, 94 – 96 Nguyen Van Thuong, Ward 25, Binh Thanh District, HCMC
- Hotline: +84 28 7308 4247
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565051012830
- Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@duhoc_ckorea
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQspuqhQlf4IRFCDzN4ce2A
