GKS / KGSP Scholarship 2026

GKS covers tuition, round-trip economy airfare, a ₩200,000 settlement allowance on arrival, medical insurance, and a fully funded year of Korean language training. The monthly living allowance is ₩900,000 for undergraduates (about ₹63,000) and ₩1,000,000 for graduate students (about ₹70,000). Graduate scholars also receive a field-based research allowance of ₩210,000 for humanities and social sciences or ₩240,000 for natural and engineering sciences, and thesis printing costs are reimbursed. Scholars holding TOPIK Level 5 or 6 receive an extra ₩100,000 a month.

The Embassy Recommendation track usually opens around January–February with a deadline in the following weeks, and the University Recommendation track varies by institution, generally falling between September and November. Exact dates are set each year by NIIED and the Korean Embassy in New Delhi, so confirm against the current call rather than last year's dates. IMA alerts students when applications open.

GKS Undergraduate: Age 25 or below, completed 12th with 80%+ in all subjects, both parents must be non-Korean. GKS Graduate: Age 40 or below, completed a Bachelor's or Master's degree with CGPA 2.64/4.0 or higher (NIIED's official conversion table treats this as equivalent to approximately 80% on a 100-point scale, the same baseline used for GKS Undergraduate), parents non-Korean.

Very competitive, and the India allocation is smaller than most sites suggest. NIIED publishes a country quota in each year's guidelines. For 2026 the reported allocation for India was 4 undergraduate embassy-track places, 26 graduate embassy-track places, and 47 graduate university-track places — roughly 77 in total, not the 150–200 often quoted. Quotas change annually, so check the current GKS-U and GKS-G application guidelines on studyinkorea.go.kr. Strong academics, a specific study plan and relevant extracurriculars all improve your chances.

No Korean is required at the time of application. All GKS scholars attend a mandatory 1-year Korean Language Institute course before their main degree begins — fully paid by NIIED. If you already have TOPIK Level 3+, you may be exempt from the language year.

GKS places scholars at designated Korean universities including KAIST, Seoul National University, Yonsei, Korea University and POSTECH. The exact list is published with each year's guidelines and changes annually, so check the current GKS-U or GKS-G guidelines rather than an older list. You state your preferences and NIIED makes the final placement based on your scores and field of study.