A Study on GKS International Students’ Friendship Formation and Intersectionality: A Qualitative Analysis of Friendship Formation and Change during the Korean Language Training and Degree Program

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to analyze the processes of friendship formation and change among Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) international students in Korea. Applying the framework of intersectionality, it explores how GKS students’ identities and institutional conditions intersect to shape their relationships. In doing so, it moves beyond the adaptation-centered perspective dominant in previous research on international students and offers an interpretation that incorporates structural factors and power relations. [Methods] To achieve the study’s objectives, a qualitative research design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine GKS students from diverse backgrounds. The collected data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis procedure and Saldaña’s (2016) categorization strategy, interpreted through the lens of intersectionality. [Results] First, during the language training period, institutional conditions such as dormitory-based communal living and Korean- language-centered education intersected with students’ language, appearance, and GKS identity, resulting in experiences of isolation and discrimination. Second, among students who shared similar experiences, mutual care-based relationships formed through emotional support, which later developed into strong bonds during the degree program. Third, in the degree program stage, institutional intervention decreased and autonomy expanded, with dietary, religious, and cultural norms becoming new conditions influencing relationship formation. Fourth, some GKS students strategically maintained distance or formed selective alliances based on the power relations among intersecting identities, and even within the same within the same group of international students, hierarchies and discrimination were reconstituted depending on these intersecting identities. [Conclusion] To enhance diversity and mutual understanding among international students, the Korean government and higher education institutions need to improve dormitory management, staff capacity, and program design. It is also necessary to strengthen the organic linkage between language institutes, universities, and the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) and establish a sustainable support system that covers the transition period after graduation.