The number of international students exceeded 200,000 in the first half of this year for the first time. Shown are students of Korean at Ewha Womans University on June 21 posing for photos on Nami Island in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do Province. (Ewha Womans University)

By Charles Audouin

The number of foreign nationals who studied or received training in the country in the first half of this year broke the 200,000 mark for the first time.

The Korea Tourism Data Lab, the online information platform of the Korea Tourism Organization, on Aug. 12 said some 204,000 students from abroad studied in the nation from January to June, the first time for the figure to hit the 200,000 mark in a six-month period.

By nationality, China sent the most with 112,000, followed by Vietnam (33,000), Japan (6,900), Mongolia (6,700) and Uzbekistan (5,000). Another 3,500 came from France and 3,100 from the U.S.

In 2020, the number of foreign nationals studying or receiving training fell to 30,000 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It rebounded in the first half of 2022 to 55,000 and 95,000 in the second that year, and jumped to 246,000 in the first half of last year and 178,000 in the second.

caudouin@korea.kr