GKS Embassy Track 2027: places by country and the embassy to contact

The embassy track's 156 places are divided between 74 countries in advance — 88 General, 61 R-GKS and 7 Overseas Koreans & Adoptees. So the people you are competing with are the other applicants from your own country, not the whole world.

G = General · R = R-GKS · O&A = Overseas Koreans & Adoptees. An em dash (—) means the country has no places in that programme. The 2026 column is last cycle's total for the same country.

The guideline attaches one caveat of its own: depending on local circumstances, the Korean embassy in an invited country may decide not to recommend a candidate at all.

Places by country from section I.3 of the 2027 GKS-U guideline (p.3) and section 3 of the 2026 guideline (pp.4–5). Country names are rendered from standard Unicode locale data, so a spelling may differ from the guideline's English. 2027 GKS-U Application Guidelines · 2026 GKS-U Application Guidelines

150 places in 71 countries became 156 in 74. The lists below name every country whose row was added, removed or changed.

Joined the list

BahamasCosta RicaIraqSouth Sudan

Left the list

Burundi

Different numbers

Bulgaria 2 → 1 · R 1→0Czechia 2 → 1 · R 1→0Egypt 2 → 3 · G 1→2Ethiopia 2 → 3 · G 1→2Ghana 2 → 3 · G 1→2Jordan 2 → 1 · R 1→0Kazakhstan 3 → 4 · R 1→2Kyrgyzstan 2 → 3 · R 0→1Mexico 2 → 3 · G 1→2Mongolia 2 → 4 · G 1→2 · R 1→2Panama 2 → 1 · R 1→0Peru 3 → 2 · G 2→1Philippines 2 → 3 · R 1→2Rwanda 4 → 3 · R 2→1Singapore 2 → 1 · R 1→0Tanzania 2 → 3 · R 1→2Timor-Leste 3 → 3 · G 2→1 · R 1→2

One central online window for every country, then three rounds: the embassy, NIIED, and the universities you named.

Rules the guideline attaches

• One programme only — General, R-GKS or Overseas Koreans & Adoptees — and one track. Apply twice anywhere and both applications are disregarded; found later, the scholarship is cancelled.
• Up to three universities on the form, at least one of them Type B; R-GKS applicants choose up to two, both Type B. The Type A and Type B lists are on our universities page. Universities
• Depending on local circumstances, the Korean embassy in an invited country may decide not to recommend a candidate at all.
• Fail the embassy's first round and you may apply again through the University Track in the same cycle, September to November on each university's own deadline. Passing it — as a candidate or a backup — closes that door. University Track deadlines, university by university
• Originals and certified copies are asked for only from first-round passers, by a deadline the embassy or university announces. Whether an apostille or consular confirmation applies is in the guideline's document section. Required Documents
• The competency review is a document screening and an oral interview. The guideline lists academic performance, language proficiency, academic activities, contribution to society and international exchange, potential, and the completeness and authenticity of documents.

Application Timeline

Appendix B of the guideline: the office that screens embassy-track applications for each invited country, with its phone, fax and e-mail exactly as the document prints them. Four countries are served from a neighbouring country, and the office name says which.

2027 GKS-U Application Guidelines · Appendix B pp.25–27

Country and office names come from standard Unicode locale data, so a spelling may differ from the guideline's English.

Then your country is not invited to the embassy track this cycle — but that is not the end of it. The University Track's UIC programme is open to every country in the world except Korea and has 100 places of its own at 13 institutions, applied for directly to one university.

The guideline's own FAQ adds that quotas follow bilateral agreements on cultural and educational cooperation, and that a country missing from the undergraduate list may be on the graduate (GKS-G) list.

University Track deadlines, university by university

• 2027 GKS-U Application Guidelines (English), revised 14 September 2026 — §I.3 places by country (p.3), §III application and schedule (pp.9–11), §VI results, Appendix B Contacts of Korean Embassies (pp.25–27)Last checked September 16, 2026
• 2027 GKS-U Application Guidelines (Korean edition), same revision — Appendix B compared row by row with the English editionLast checked September 16, 2026
• 2026 GKS-U Application Guidelines (English) — §3 places by country (pp.4–5)Last checked September 16, 2026
• Study in Korea notice board, post 4522 — published 9 September 2026, files replaced 14 SeptemberLast checked September 16, 2026

Independent summary of NIIED's published guidelines; not affiliated with NIIED or the Korean government. Where two editions disagree we show both and decide nothing.