Overseas Remittances to Students Rise Every Year

The total amount of overseas remittance to students abroad has increased by at least 30 percent in each of the past two years, with two-thirds of that money going to the U.S.

The Bank of Korea said in a report submitted to Uri lawmaker Kim Jong-ryul as part of the government's ongoing parliamentary audit that remittances made to overseas students last year was US$1.852 billion, a 30 percent increase from the previous year. The figure rose by 33 percent from 2001 to 2002.

By 2002, the U.S. was the most popular destination for Korean money, accounting for 66.6 percent of total overseas remittances to students at US$950 million, but falling slightly from 71.6 percent in 2001.

With an increase in the number of Korean students in Canada and Australia, the percent of total remittances going to both of those countries increased from 16.1 to 21.7 percent. 

For the EU and Japan, the percentage dropped slightly from 8.8 to 8.3 percent and from 2.2 to 1.7 percent, respectively. For China, the percentage increased from 0.6 to 1.0 percent.