The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) is a fully funded South Korean government scholarship, and for anyone heading into artificial intelligence or computer science it is one of the most complete offers you will find. It pays your tuition, adds a monthly living stipend, flies you to Korea and home again on a round-trip economy ticket, and usually funds a full year of Korean language training before your degree begins. It runs for both undergraduate and graduate (master's and doctoral) students, it is administered by the government body NIIED, and it used to be called the Korean Government Scholarship Program, or KGSP, so older guides still use that name. The honest catch: it is genuinely competitive, and Korean language matters more than most applicants expect.
What the Global Korea Scholarship covers
The GKS is close to a true full ride. Treat the exact figures below as roughly current for 2026 and confirm them on the official Study in Korea scholarship page, since NIIED adjusts the amounts from one cycle to the next.
- Tuition: covered in full, generally up to a per-semester cap, with the host university paying anything above it.
- Monthly stipend: roughly 900,000 KRW a month for undergraduates. For graduate students the living allowance was raised to about 1,380,000 KRW a month starting in 2026.
- Round-trip airfare: an economy class flight to Korea at the start and home at the end of the award.
- One year of Korean language training: intensive Korean at a designated institution before your degree, paid directly to the language institute.
- Settlement and insurance: a one-time arrival allowance (around 200,000 KRW) plus health insurance for the scholarship period.
- Research support: graduate students also get help with thesis printing and research costs.
Add it up and for most scholars the out-of-pocket cost of the degree itself lands near zero, which is what separates GKS from a partial tuition waiver.
Embassy track or university track: which one to pick
There are two ways in, and you may only use one. Applying through both in the same year gets you disqualified, so decide deliberately.
- Embassy track: you apply through the Korean embassy or consulate in your country of citizenship. You can list up to three universities. Your file is screened by the embassy first, then by NIIED, then passed to the universities. Because it runs on a per-country quota, you compete mainly against other applicants from your own country.
- University track: you apply directly to a single participating Korean university, which forwards its strongest applicants to NIIED for final approval. You get one university choice, but you compete inside that school's applicant pool rather than a national quota.
Both tracks pay the same benefits. The choice is about odds and options: the embassy track spreads your bet across three universities, while the university track can suit a strong candidate aiming at one specific lab or program. The official Study in Korea portal lists which universities take which track each year, and that list moves, so check it before you build a shortlist.
Why Korea is worth it for AI and chips
Korea is spending heavily to become an AI and semiconductor hub, which is the real reason a CS or AI student should look past the usual English-speaking destinations. KAIST is opening a dedicated AI college, POSTECH and GIST run strong machine learning groups, and Seoul National University has built out an AI program with a large research faculty. On the hardware side, Samsung and SK Hynix anchor a national push into AI chips, and several universities run government-funded semiconductor graduate schools tied directly to that industry. If your interest is AI systems, robotics, or the silicon underneath the models, the density of labs and employers in and around Seoul and Daejeon is a genuine draw.
Two honest qualifiers. First, many flagship AI programs are research-heavy and admission is competitive on its own terms, scholarship or not. Second, language cuts both ways: some graduate programs teach and publish in English, but plenty of coursework, lab life, and daily living still runs in Korean, which is exactly why GKS builds in a language year.
Before you apply: a GKS checklist
The applicants who win GKS tend to start early and read the guidelines line by line. Work through this before you commit:
- Confirm you meet the basics: most tracks require you (and often your parents) to hold non-Korean citizenship, to be under a set age, and to clear a minimum GPA.
- Pick your track first, embassy or university, because the paperwork, the number of university choices, and the deadline all differ.
- Shortlist programs from the current university list, and check whether your target degree is taught in Korean or English.
- Plan for the Korean requirement: scholars generally must reach a Korean proficiency level (commonly TOPIK Level 3 or higher) during or after the language year, even in some English-taught tracks.
- Prepare the documents that take time: transcripts, a personal statement, a study plan, recommendation letters, and apostille or consular authentication of your certificates.
- Note the calendar: embassy-track undergraduate applications tend to open around September to October, while graduate applications often run in the winter, with results months later. Confirm the exact dates on the official notices.
GKS solves the "how do I pay for it" half of studying AI in Korea. The other half, whether Korea actually beats Germany, Canada, or Japan for your field and your plans after graduating, is a separate decision. That comparison, after-tax pay, visa routes, and job markets side by side, is what the AI Relocation Guide is built for, and you can compare all 21 countries in one place instead of stitching it together from a dozen government sites. If Japan is also on your list, its closest equivalent award is worth reading next in our guide to the MEXT scholarship for AI students in Japan. And if you are still weighing destinations, start with the best countries to study AI abroad. This is informational, not legal, immigration, tax, or financial advice, so verify every figure and deadline on the official GKS notices before you apply.
The honest takeaway
GKS is one of the best fully funded deals in the world for a motivated student who is open to learning Korean and drawn to a country betting big on AI and chips. It suits an undergraduate willing to spend a language year up front, and a master's or PhD applicant targeting a specific Korean lab even more. If you are not prepared to engage with the language or the competitive selection, a lower-friction English-taught route may serve you better. Choose the embassy track to spread your odds across three universities, and the university track when one program is clearly your first choice.
Rule of thumb: if you are willing to learn Korean and start a year early, GKS turns a Korean AI degree into a near-zero-cost bet; if you are not, look elsewhere first.
