Foreign students in borrowed gowns take a photo during a graduation ceremony at Hanyang University in Seoul on Aug. 16, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign students are struggling with housing contracts, but there isn’t enough support to assist them.
A Vietnamese student at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, ran into a series of difficulties last December when he was signing a sharehouse contract.
The Korean words for monthly rent, public utilities charge, and deposits were unfamiliar to the Vietnamese student, and he had to rely on a smartphone translator for help.
A Chinese student attending Kyonggi University in Suwon, south of Seoul, said some landlords did not wish to rent homes to foreigners, making it more difficult for him to find a place to live.
College dormitories only accommodated 23.1 percent of students attending general universities and colleges of education as of last year, according to the Korean Council for University Education.
Those who study far away from the dormitories, or those who disapprove of the facilities, should look for housing on their own.
“Many of us fail to understand certain rules for incoming tenants like how and where to throw away the trash,” said Abdullaev Ravshanjon, vice president of the foreign student council at the University of Seoul.
“Some people fail to get their deposits back because they set the wrong contractual period.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
