A promotional poster for Sejong University’s International Student Career Fair & Startup Forum / Courtesy of Sejong University
Sejong University will host a career fair and startup forum aimed at supporting foreign students pursuing education and career opportunities in Korea.
The university said it will hold the 7th International Student Career Fair & Startup Forum (ISF) at its Seoul campus, Mar. 25. The event will be jointly organized with international student platform Stuvisor and foreign student career platform Careertus.
A university official said it is now imperative to include their workforce into the job market since Korea seeks long-term solutions to a worsening population decline and labor shortage.
“Korea has been facing a severe demographic decline. The country’s total fertility rate fell to a record low of 0.72 in 2023 and remained around 0.80 in 2025, among the lowest in the world,” the official said.
“The shrinking population has increasingly led to labor shortages across industries, prompting policymakers and institutions to consider attracting and retaining highly skilled foreign talent as a strategic alternative.”
The school highlighted the government’s “Study Korea 300K” initiative, which aims to attract 300,000 international students. The policy is viewed not only as an effort to internationalize universities but also as part of a broader demographic strategy to support the sustainability of domestic industries.
It added that the university has been addressing structural limitations through its International Student Futures platform, which supports international students throughout their academic and professional development after graduation. The platform aims to connect education, employment, entrepreneurship and settlement support rather than functioning solely as a job fair.
Fair participants will be able to access on-site recruitment interviews with companies, graduate school admissions consultations with universities, meetings with startup investors such as accelerators and venture capital firms, embassy networking sessions and settlement services including financial, legal, visa and housing support.
About 60 organizations are expected to participate, including 20 recruiting companies, 20 domestic and overseas universities, and 20 institutions such as startup support organizations, embassies and service providers. Hundreds of international students are expected to attend, with recruitment interviews, academic consultations and startup collaboration discussions taking place during the event.
The event will also include participation from QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a global higher education analytics organization known for its international university rankings, according to Sejong University. QS will also operate an on-site booth and Samuel Ang, regional partnerships director, will deliver a congratulatory address.
“Securing high-quality international talent has become a key issue for the sustainability of Korean society beyond university internationalization indicators,” said Han Jung-hoon, team manager of the One-Stop Service Center at Sejong University.
Yang Gil-jun, chief executive of Stuvisor and Careertus, also said the ISF platform is designed to bring together students, universities, companies and government to build a global education and employment ecosystem.
“The event allows international students to explore academic pathways such as bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs while receiving practical advice on employment and entrepreneurship,” he added.
The forum will run in two tracks: Korean and English.
The Korean session will feature officials responsible for employment and startup support programs at Sejong University and Kyung Hee University, who are expected to present policies related to international student entrepreneurship.
Meanwhile, the English session will include discussions on strategies for entering the global startup ecosystem led by representatives of international student communities and foreign entrepreneurs active in Korea.
