Social Network Analysis of Asian International Student Mobility Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Centered on South Korea

This study used the social network analysis method to visualize the mobility network of Asian students and Korean students before (2016-2019) and after (2020-2023) the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 has affected the growth trend of inbound students, and international student mobility has stagnated and retreated. This study uses the UNESCO and ROK-MOE data on international student mobility during the eight years from 2016 to 2023. The finding shows that after COVID-19, the trend of Asian students is quite different from that of Korean students. The emerging regional hubs in Asia tended to catch up with the traditional host countries in terms of attraction for students from neighboring Asian countries. Moreover, South Korea has become more attractive to Asian students compared to the other regional hubs in Asia during the COVID-19. Conversely, the number of Korean students going to nearby Asian countries has decreased, and North America and Australia remain the leading destinations for Korean students. The findings of this study provide information for the “Study Korea 300K Project” to attract more international students in the future.