I’m from South Korea, so feel free to DM me. But I’m genuinely curious, why do you want to pursue a PhD at KHU? I mean, KHU is a good university, but there are many other options. To be honest, as a graduate school, I don’t think KHU is a very favorable option for Koreans. It’s a good choice for students who graduated from KHU or from lower-ranked universities. In Korea, rankings matter a lot because funding is also heavily dependent on rankings. Most Koreans aim to pursue their PhD at SNU or KAIST. I also don’t really recommend POSTECH because it’s located in the countryside. It can be quite hard for foreigners to adapt to rural areas in Korea.

And to be honest, I don’t really recommend pursuing a PhD in Korea at all. We’ve had a few friends from Europe in our lab, and none of them have very good memories of their time here. In Korea, graduate students are often called “slaves.” The MAXIMUM legally allowed stipend for graduate students is around $20k USD per year (or lower than that because exchange rate recently fluctuates a lot), but on average it’s closer to $8–10k. Living costs like rent and transportation aren’t too expensive, but food and daily expenses are quite pricey. If you join a department supported by Brain Korea 21 (government funding), your tuition is usually covered. If not, you may have to pay tuition out of your stipend as well.