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Kang Seong-min, a public servant, has a son and a daughter who go to high school and college in the U.S. Fortunately, both live together and go to public schools, so Kang spends around 30 million won (US$32,000) a year total in educating and housing his children, less than he thought it would cost when he first considered sending them overseas.

The financial burden, however, will likely get more serious two years from now when his son will enter college, as his son’s public high school is free. At that point, Kang’s educational expenses will double, if not increase further.

Kang has already taken out a 25 million won loan, but he is afraid the amount will be at around 100 million won by the time his children finish their studies.

"Compared with educational expenses here, I think it will cost 50 million won more per child in total to have him or her attend a U.S. college versus a Korean college, which I think I can afford," Kang said. He plans to move to a smaller apartment in order to secure the needed money.

Kim Hyo-suk, a 45-year-old housewife, got her 16-year-old son into a Canadian high school. She spends $12,000 on tuition, along with another $12,000 for a home stay and 35 million won for other living expenses, which accounts for nearly half of her annual household income.

"The financial burden is not as serious as you’d think, since we live very frugally," she said. But things will get worse when her son’s visa is extended, as this obliges her to pay an entire year’s school fees at once, she said.

As income levels are rising, and overseas study or language training is no longer a luxury for only a small number of privileged South Korean children, many middle-income households here are feeling an increasing burden in paying for their children’s education. Some of them make extreme decisions in the face of mounting debts and financial burdens.

On March 11, a woman by the last name Moon was found dead at her apartment in the Songpa district. Police said that she killed herself due to a mounting financial burden from overseas education expenses for her son. According to the police, she was 600 million won in arrears.

"The financial burden felt by local households from sending their children overseas range from 24 million to 100 million won on average," said Kim Seong-suk, a professor of Keimyung University. "These families send an average of 50-80 percent of their income overseas for their children’s education, but the amount, in some cases, jumps to 100 percent." Of those surveyed in a recent study, three out of five had sold their houses or other assets to secure money for their children’s overseas studies, Professor Kim added.

If the local currency depreciates against the U.S. dollar, things will further deteriorate for those families, just as the case in the late 1990s when the won-dollar exchange rate skyrocketed amid an Asia-wide financial economic crisis.

Choi Yang-suk, a lecturer at Yonsei University said, "Our parents’ generation fretted about their future, which translates into excessive spending for their children’s education." She also noted that also playing a role in this educational trend was the higher average education level attained by the younger generation as well as parents’ belief that those who study overseas will climb higher on the social ladder.

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