China has been actively recruiting South Korean technology talent through its so-called “Thousand Talents Program,” sparking growing concerns about brain drain in South Korea. According to a Yonhap News Agency report from Seoul on November 12, the Korean scientific community is calling for domestic reforms to prevent further talent loss by ensuring both senior and young researchers have adequate opportunities for development.
The recruitment campaign is highly sophisticated and personalized. Chinese authorities not only extend job offers but also collect detailed personal information about potential recruits, including their annual salaries, family relationships, research fields, and working conditions. Based on this intelligence, they present tailored proposals featuring substantial research grants and competitive compensation packages.
Data submitted to National Assembly member Choi Soo-jin reveals the scale of China’s outreach. Last year alone, 149 researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology received recruitment emails from Chinese entities, while government-funded research institutions received over 600 such messages.
A May survey by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology found that 61.5 percent of respondents had received job offers within the past five years, with 82.9 percent of those offers coming from China.
China’s strategy varies by age group. For researchers under 45, 87.5 percent were offered research positions with benefits equivalent to those given to Chinese returnees. For those over 55, China presented diverse options including short-term research projects, consulting positions lasting more than a year, and teaching opportunities.
Younger researchers cited favorable employment conditions and research environments as primary motivations for considering these offers, while senior researchers pointed to inadequate institutional support in South Korea. A researcher from the Korean Academy emphasized that losing top talent poses serious national risks and urged the government to create better environments for doctoral-level professionals and foster greater interaction between senior and junior researchers.
Source: Yonhap News Agency, November 12, 2025
https://cn.yna.co.kr/view/ACK20251112002000881