The number of foreign students studying at Seoul National University has increased 27 percent over the last three years.

According to Seoul National University International Cooperation Headquarters, its international enrollment totaled 2,401 as of October, breaking down into 2,080 full-time students and 321 part-time students including exchange students.

It marks a 27 percent increase from 1,891 registered in 2009.

The number of foreign students has been increasing steadily every year, and the nationalities of the students have expanded to 110 countries.

Most foreign students were from China, with 726 students. After China, 253 were from the U.S., 168 from Japan, and 102 from Mongolia, followed by Germany, Vietnam, Canada, India, and Russia.

There were also students from Nicaragua, East Timor, Cte d’Ivoire, Bhutan, and Fiji.

Kim Jun-gi, the head of SNU International Cooperation Headquarters, said that foreign students consist of about 6 to 7 percent of the entire SNU population, and they plan to increase the proportion of foreign students.

By Sang Youn-joo (sangyj@heraldcorp.com)