Fear of terrorist attacks in US cities is discouraging students from studying in the US with only some 1,500 attending the US Study Abroad Fair, hosted by the International Education Foundation at the Marriott Hotel, Seoul on Sunday, far less than some 30,000 who attended the last such fair organized by Korea Trade Fairs (KTF) Ltd.

Lee Yeong-ho of KTF, which has prepared US Study Abroad Fairs since 1992, says October’s fair marked unprecedented low number of participants, as the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington DC and a series of biological attacks using anthrax seem to be holding students back from going to the US for study.

Moreover, overseas education consulting agencies report that the number of college students going over to the States for language courses fell by some 30% after the terrorist attacks, and inquirers now prefer non-US English-speaking countries, such as Australia and Great Britain.

(Jin Jung-eon, jinmir@chosun.com )