More Korean Kids Taken to Study in South Africa
By wchung | 15 May, 2025

The number of Korean kids going to South Africa to study jumped from 226 in 2001 to 461 in 2009, reported Chosun Ilbo. The statistics are based on the number of permits issued by the South African Embassy in Korea.

About 4,000 Koreans lived in South Africa as of May 2010, according to the Korean embassy in South Africa. A quarter of them are believed to be teen students accompanied by one or more family members. South Africa is attractive as an English-speaking nation with substantially lower living costs than the U.S. and other nations.

“At first we thought about going to the U.S., but the cost would have been around W2-2.5 million ($1,800 – $2,260) per person a month,” said a 47-year-old housewife who took her teenage son and daughter to South Africa almost three years ago. “But here, that’s enough for all of us to live for a month.”

Tuition for both her children costs about W300,000 ($260) a month somewhat more than in Korea but competitive when considering the cost of cram schools to which many parents send their children. The added advantage of South African schools are the greater variety of after-school activities.

Even South Africa’s high crime rate is seen by some parents as an advantage because it forces her children to ask her to drive them everywhere, allowing their activities to be monitored.

But some Korean expats complain that the cost of living has been rising rapidly. Some also worry about the difficulty their children will have adjusting to the far more rigorous Korean academic standards when they return home.

However, South African schools are considered the continent’s best. Korean diplomats and corporate expats elsewhere in Africa also send their children to school there.