The Korean Embassy in Manila on Thursday said the application for the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) program is set to start in February 2023, opening graduate study opportunities for Filipinos.

“GKS-Graduate degrees for year 2023 is scheduled to begin in February 2023. In February 2022, the Korean Embassy in the Philippines selected and recommended 14 applicants for 2022 GKS-G,” the Embassy said.

GKS is a government-funded scholarship providing foreigners an opportunity to study in Korean universities and promote “mutual friendship” among countries.

The scholarship covers round trip airfare tickets, monthly stipend, tuition fees, scholarship completion grants, Korean language training, and medical insurance.

A master’s degree program could take at least three years, one year for Korean language classes and two for the degree completion itself. The doctoral degree program, meanwhile, takes at least four years.

Embassy Counsellor Lee Wonsik said over 360 Filipinos were able to study in Korea under GKS since 1968.

This year alone, over 200 applied for the graduate degree program and 14 were selected. Undergraduate programs are also offered but application usually starts around September.

The announcement of application guidelines would be posted at www.studyinkorea.go.kr.

University of the Philippines Associate Professor and GKS alumna Ronel Laranjo who took up MA in Applied Linguistics at Korea University, said the scholarship “opened up a lot of doors” for him.

“I think this is also the same with other GKS alumni, we are serving as bridge between Korea and Philippines,” he said at an alumni night in Taguig City Wednesday.

Aside from GKS, Korea provides academic and training programs for future Filipino leaders and military personnel through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Scholarship and the Foreign Military Student Program by Korean Ministry of National Defense.

“These programs are very important vehicle to expand our relationship,” Embassy Consul General Lee Kyoo-ho said in an interview. “When they study in Korea, Korean people also learn from them. Definitely, in the long run, it increases mutual understanding of our two countries.” (PNA)