Internationalization of higher education in Korea: policy trends toward the pursuit of the SDGs

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the policy trends for the internationalization of higher education in Korea, and suggest a future direction toward the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a case study of Korea focusing on its internationalization in higher education. In order to analyze the government policy trends and institutional strategies for internationalization, the relevant literature and documents were analyzed. Findings The government policy for the internationalization of higher education in Korea has consisted of three stages: first, controlled outbound mobility; second, a major shift and focus on inbound mobility, recently along with intraregional cooperation for both directions of mobility in Asia and third, the beginning of efforts toward the pursuit of the SDGs, which needs to be expanded and systematized further. Originality/value This paper shows presents the comprehensive review of internationalization policies in Korean higher education, including the recent programs and changes at both the governmental and institutional levels. There has been a notable lack of discussion on the SDGs in relation to the internationalization of Korean higher education, which is addressed in this paper.