The South Korean Education Ministry announced it will relax the limit on how many credits overseas students who's schooling has been suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak will need.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean Education Ministry on Sunday suggested Chinese students studying in South Korean universities, but have not yet booked flights to the country, to suspend schooling in this semester.

To reduce the impact of the schooling suspension, the ministry plans to encourage South Korean universities to sign agreements on mutually recognizing credits for Chinese students in select online courses of other universities, allowing them to gain credits while in China.

The ministry said there are 70,979 Chinese students studying in South Korea, with 32,591 currently in South Korea and 38,388 still in China for winter vacation. Among the latter, more than 10,000 will go back to South Korea in the next week.

A special counter has been set up at the Incheon Airport to aid Chinese students, who will be taken to their schools in vehicles provided by the government or university, said the ministry.

On Monday, China's embassy in South Korea reminded Chinese students studying in South Korea to report their health to their schools. 

Before entering South Korea, students should contact their schools, and report their conditions as part of the special procedure for entering the country. They have to quarantine themselves for 14 days after arriving, and report their health to their schools daily through a specific mobile app.

As of Monday, 77,269 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in China, and 833 cases were confirmed in South Korea, which raised its epidemic risk alert level to the highest on Sunday.

(Cover image: A file photo of South Korean university. /VCG)