Factors Affecting Korean Students’ Geographic Selection In China

As China accelerates its opening up, it has become a major destination for oversea students. With most of them studying in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and some other regions, the distribution of oversea students is very obviously uneven. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the factors affecting foreign students’ geographic choices has become an important approach to enhancing each region’s attraction for foreign students.In such a context, this paper will study the factors affecting Korean students’ geographic choices. The author will first review theories and literature on this topic and lay a theoretical foundation for this research. This paper then builds a factor evaluation system encompassing five indexes:natural conditions, institutional environments, economy and trade, culture and technology and educational level of the region. These are possbile factors affecting Korean students’geographic choices. An empirical analysis with Korean students in China as subjects is carried out by using the factor analysis approach. The result shows that their geographic choices are affected by three factors, namely the level of political and economic development, level and policy of education and their adaptability to new environments. Therefore, to make China more attractive to Korean students, focus must be paid to the above three aspects.Based on the findings, this paper proposes:first, to improve regional cooperation while enhancing the level of economic and political development, create a mechanism to attractive oversea students, foster a safe and stable learning environment and build a protection mechanism for oversea students; second, to integrate educational resources, build innovative cooperative education model, and improve teaching facilities, expand opportunities for oversea study through cooperation between colleges, strengthen mutual recognition of qualifications, strengthen quality control of oversea study; third, to build innovative cultural exchange mechanisms, enhance the charm of regional cultures, provide communication platform and social support for students, strengthen cultural publicity in the region etc.This study found three key factors affecting Korean students’geographic choices based on an in-depth and comprehensive research. It also came up with pertinent strategies and measures for improvement. Hopefully, the research can provide some recommendations and references for relevant policy makers to understand the factors and make the region more attractive to Korean studies.