The proposal was discussed at a university senate meeting on Oct. 22, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported. The senate approved setting up the division of global talent in April, and the latest meeting focused on how it will operate.

Leading schools in those markets were also named as priority targets, among them the United Nations International School of Hanoi, Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School, Taipei First Girls High School and the High School Attached to Northeast Normal University in China.

"We are not simply prioritizing countries that have produced large numbers of successful applicants," said Cha Suk-won, SNU's vice president for global affairs. "We are focusing on places with well-established systems for nurturing talent, such as gifted schools and international schools, where a high proportion of applicants are academically outstanding."

Faculty and staff from SNU's University College, which will house the division, are scheduled to visit Vietnam in January 2027 to present admissions guidelines to prospective applicants. Visits to Kazakhstan and other countries are under consideration.

Vietnamese students became the largest group of international students in South Korea this year, numbering 96,834, or 31.5% of the 307,464 total as of April 1, ahead of 78,890 Chinese students, according to Education Ministry data released in August.

Vietnamese students before taking their high school graduation exam in 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

SNU is also developing a "fly-in program" that would bring outstanding overseas high school students and prospective incoming students to campus, designed as a targeted recruitment tool rather than a one-off campus visit.

Under the proposal, incoming students will be required to take Korean-language courses suited to their Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) scores before choosing between a humanities, social sciences and arts track and a science and engineering track. They can then pursue at least one major offered by departments across 10 of SNU's undergraduate colleges.

The division is expected to admit about 36 students a year outside the regular enrollment quota, leaving the number of places for Korean students unchanged, The Korea Herald reported in April. It is scheduled to be established in March 2027, with classes starting in September.

Applicants and both their parents must be foreign nationals, according to SNU's admissions office.

SNU, South Korea's highest-ranked university, placed 38th in the 2027 QS World University Rankings released in June, the same as a year earlier but down from 29th in the 2023 edition. Weaker scores for international student ratio and diversity were cited as key factors in the decline.

The university has been less aggressive than its peers in recruiting international students. Official data showed it had 1,383 foreign students as of 2025, against 4,740 at Yonsei University and 4,471 at Korea University.

As details of the division have emerged, calls have grown within SNU for more consultation with existing undergraduates, the JoongAng Daily reported. Concerns remain that the program could strain educational resources and student welfare services such as classrooms, dormitories and scholarships.

Students in programs housed in the same college as the new division have voiced concern that resources and support for them could shrink.

"We intend to consult with the university administration to establish a process for gathering feedback from existing members of the university community, particularly students, before the new division begins full operations," a source from SNU's council of college student representatives said.