The Korean internationalization paradox: policy success and integration failure in South Korean higher education

South Korea’s international student enrolment grew from 87,480 in 2010 to 263,774 in 2024, surpassing its 300,000-student target two years ahead of schedule. Yet while 65.5% of international students want to remain in Korea after graduation, only 13.8% actually enter the Korean labour market, a gap this study terms the Korean Internationalization Paradox. Drawing on Korean Immigration Service and Immigrant Residence and Employment Survey data from 2010 to 2024, the study combines longitudinal trend analysis, interrupted time series regression, and policy document analysis to explain this paradox. Grounded in neoinstitutionalism and world systems theory, it argues that policy fragmentation across four domains, education, immigration, employment, and regional development, produces instruments that work at cross-purposes despite shared demographic and economic goals. The findings carry implications for Korean higher education governance and for the wider literature linking enrolment-focused internationalization policy to talent retention outcomes.