GKS 2027 for Pakistani Students: Embassy Track Closed, University Track Still Open

If you searched "GKS scholarship Pakistan" this week, you are late for one door and not automatically late for the other.

The 2027 Global Korea Scholarship for undergraduate degrees is a Korean government award run by the National Institute for International Education, NIIED. The English rules are the file "2027 GKS-U Application Guidelines (English) 0914.pdf" on the Study in Korea notice board. I used that PDF. The Korean embassy in Islamabad also posted a notice on 14 September 2026. Where the two disagree, follow the guidelines. NIIED says the Korean text wins if the English translation conflicts with it.

This page is only that undergraduate call. Do not reuse these dates for a master’s or PhD.

Two tracks, and only one is still in the window

The embassy track is the one Pakistani students usually mean. You applied online on Study in Korea. The guidelines set that window as 15 September 2026, 11:00, to 30 September 2026, 18:00, Korea Standard Time. The embassy printed the same close in Pakistan time: 30 September 2026, 2:00 pm. That date has passed. If you did not submit, the embassy form is closed.

The university track is a different application. You do not use the Study in Korea online form. You apply the way one Korean university tells you to. NIIED’s period for this track is September–November 2026, "according to each university’s own schedule." There is no single closing date. One campus can already have closed. Another can still be open in November. You have to read that university’s own announcement.

As of 4 October 2026, the clock that still matters for embassy applicants is the first-round result, not a new embassy form. The guidelines say those results are announced by 16 October 2026. Universities notify their own first-round applicants in November. Final successful candidates are expected by 7 January 2027. NIIED also says the schedule can change.

Passing the first round blocks the second door

If you applied through the embassy and you pass the first round, including as a backup candidate, you cannot apply again on a university track. If you fail that first round, you may. You cannot hold both at once. The FAQ says the same thing: embassy applicants who did not pass may apply once more through a university, but not to both tracks at the same time.

If you have not heard yet, wait for 16 October. Filing a second application before you know you failed can get the file thrown out. NIIED says an application to more than one track, program, or university will be disregarded, and the scholarship can be cancelled later if they find it.

If you never applied to the embassy, the university track is the route still described as open inside September–November, subject to the campus deadline.

Three embassy seats, and the seats that are not "Pakistan’s"

On the embassy quota table, Pakistan is country 45. The columns are General, R-GKS, Overseas Koreans and Adoptees, then Total. Pakistan is 2, 1, none, total 3. That is two General places and one R-GKS place. The whole embassy track is 156 scholars from 74 countries. The embassy may choose not to recommend someone.

The Islamabad notice writes "Total: 2" and then "General Program: 2 / R-GKS: 1". Those figures do not add up. The guidelines table is the one that shows 3. Use the table.

Those three seats are not the whole award. The university track has two programs.

UIC, University Industry Cooperation, is 100 scholars at 13 institutions, and the guidelines say it is open to all countries. It is natural science and engineering. The quota table names the departments and the numbers, including AI and computer engineering at Ajou and software at Kookmin. Read that table. Do not trust a cropped screenshot.

The associate-degree program is 30 scholars from 74 countries, at nine colleges named in the guidelines, separate from UIC.

University-track applicants choose one university and one department. Not three. Not two departments on the same campus. If they find more than one university, you are out, even after a first look.

If you already submitted on the embassy track: General applicants could list up to three universities, with at least one Type B (regional). R-GKS could list up to two Type B universities. After final selection you cannot switch field.

Who can apply

You need citizenship of a country NIIED invited, except that UIC is open worldwide. Your parents or legal guardians must not be Korean citizens. Dual nationality that includes Korea makes you ineligible. If you or a parent used to hold Korean citizenship, you need Korean government proof that it was given up.

Age: under 25, born on or after 1 March 2002.

A bachelor’s program is for someone who finished high school or an associate degree, or who is about to. An associate program is for high-school graduates or expected graduates. If you already have a bachelor’s degree, you cannot apply. Someone with an associate degree can apply only to a bachelor’s program.

If you expect to graduate by 31 December 2026, you can send an expected-graduation certificate now. Pass the first round and you must send the real graduation certificate and a transcript by 31 December 2026. Miss that and the place is cancelled. A provisional certificate is treated as "expected."

Grades have to meet one of three bars on the previous program (high school, or an associate degree if you are applying for a bachelor’s): 80 or above on a 100-point scale, or top 20 percent of the class, or a CGPA of at least 2.64/4.0, 2.80/4.3, 2.91/4.5, or 3.23/5.0. If your transcript is not on one of those scales, the school has to issue a note explaining the system. Expected graduates use the average they have on application day. The FAQ does not accept a grade you converted on a random website. The school or a government body has to confirm it.

You cannot apply if you finished, or will finish, a Korean high school or Korean associate program. A previous Korean-government degree scholarship blocks you, and so does a cancelled GKS degree award. People who were selected and then withdrew or were disqualified in the last three years cannot apply.

A TOEFL, IELTS, TOPIK, or TOPIK IBT score is optional. The FAQ says you may apply without one. Some departments still demand a score. Read the University Information file on the same notice before you assume your marks are enough.

What it pays, and the Korean year

NIIED says the amounts can change. The benefits table lists tuition of up to 5 million KRW per semester from NIIED, with the university covering anything above that plus the admission fee. The Korean language program fee is 5.2 million KRW a year. Airfare is economy class, actual cost. It is not paid if you already live in Korea when the final list comes out, not for travel inside Pakistan, not if you enter from a country other than your own, and not for insurance.

Living support is one yearly allowance: 13,560,000 KRW in the language year and 14,400,000 KRW a year in the degree. NIIED calls it one subsidy for living costs, housing, insurance, and the smaller grants in the table, not extra payments on top.

A bachelor’s scholar is funded for about 5 to 7 years: one Korean year plus a degree of 4 to 6 years. An associate scholar is about 3 to 4 years.

Korean study is at the same university as the degree. You need at least TOPIK level 3 that year to enter the major. Some departments want level 4 or higher. TOPIK 5 or 6 at application can skip the language year and start the degree in March 2027. Reach level 5 or 6 in the first six months and the degree starts in September 2027 instead. A late level 5 or 6 has to reach NIIED by 24 December 2026, and only the exam sittings in the FAQ count.

Leave in the first three months after enrollment and you must pay back everything you have received.

Papers

Both tracks use the same NIIED forms: application, personal statement, study plan, one recommendation, the applicant agreement, a medical form, and consent. Certificates include citizenship for you and both parents, family relationship, graduation or expected graduation, and the transcript. A passport copy is on the list. Extra certificates, up to five, are optional.

For embassy-track files in Pakistan, the embassy notice says documents must carry an apostille at the first-round stage, and a file that misses that standard can be hurt. The guidelines mark required certificates for apostille or consular confirmation. On the university track, that same block says the timing is "as instructed by each university." Ask the campus. Do not invent a softer rule. Use the 2027 forms, not last year’s.

What to do this week

This is the week of 4 October 2026.

1. If you submitted an embassy file, do not open a second campus until you know the first-round result, scheduled by Friday 16 October. Check My Page on Study in Korea. Backup candidates count as having passed. They cannot move to the university track.

2. If you never applied, or you already know you were not recommended, download the 0914 English guidelines and the University Track zip from the GKS notice on Study in Korea. Pick one UIC department or one associate program. Write down that university’s deadline and how they want the file. If the date is not on the campus site, use the contact in Appendix D. Do not copy a deadline from a blog.

3. Ask your school this week for a transcript on a 100-point, 4.0, 4.3, 4.5, or 5.0 scale, or an official letter that explains the grading system. "80 percent" only helps if the document is actually on a 100-point scale. A top-20-percent rank also has to be on a school paper.

4. Scan your citizenship proof, both parents’ citizenship, and the family-relationship document. If you are still in class 12, the expected-graduation certificate should show you finish by 31 December 2026.

5. If you already hold a bachelor’s degree, stop. This call will not take you.

Contacts printed on those pages: GKS Team, NIIED, gksniied@korea.kr. The guidelines’ embassy list gives pakistan@mofa.go.kr. The embassy news page lists the phone as (+92-51) 227-9380–1 and 227-9385–7, weekdays 8:30–12:30 and 14:00–17:00. Use that number to ask where a notice is, not to ask them to reopen 30 September.

Open the Study in Korea notice again before you send a file. NIIED already said these dates can move.