Undergraduate rules vary by university; graduate programs usually require one
Start by checking whether the guidelines ask for a letter at all. Among 2027 undergraduate international tracks the answer already splits. Seoul National University requires one letter from a teacher at your previous school as a mandatory document. KAIST made the letter optional from the 2027 cycle, accepts up to two, and states that submission is highly recommended. The undergraduate international guidelines of Yonsei and Korea University contain no recommendation letter item at all.
Graduate admissions ask for more. SNU's graduate track requires two letters, one each from two different recommenders. Ewha Womans University requires one letter from every doctoral and integrated-program applicant, while master's applicants submit one only if their department's additional document list says so. Yonsei's Graduate School lists two letters as optional but writes that submission is strongly recommended, and then makes them mandatory for specific departments: Cultural Anthropology (one for master's, two for doctoral and integrated), and at least one for the Operations Management track in Business Administration. Requirements differ department by department inside the same university.
The recommender submits it, not you
All five universities close off any route where the applicant carries the letter. SNU accepts only letters filed through its online recommendation site and does not accept post, email or fax. KAIST likewise requires the recommender to submit through a portal link, rejects hard copies and email, and requires undergraduate letters in English. Yonsei uses an online recommendation system and allows a PDF upload only when that system cannot be used.
Ewha, which still allows paper, shows why the rule exists. The recommending professor must post the letter directly to the Graduate School office. If the applicant is to hand it in, the professor must sign it and then seal the envelope as confidential. Where email is unavoidable, the recommender must print, sign and scan the letter and send it from an address on their own institution's domain. A file sent from the applicant's own account, or an unsealed envelope, falls outside the rule.
The request email goes out only after the application fee is paid
Online systems use the fee payment as the trigger. At both SNU and KAIST, the automated email containing the writing link reaches the recommender only once the application fee has been paid. KAIST states this explicitly and advises paying as early as possible so the recommender has time to write.
The recommendation deadline is separate from the application deadline. For KAIST's 2027 Early track the application closes at 18:00 on 22 October 2026, but letters are accepted until 18:00 on 29 October. SNU's 2027 spring intake has its own online recommendation window, 10:00 on 6 July 2026 to 17:00 on 10 July. Recommender details cannot be edited indefinitely either: SNU blocks changes after 14:00 on the closing day, and even before that the details are locked once the recommender has saved a draft or submitted.
You check submission status yourself, on the online application site. SNU states plainly that it will not confirm status by phone or email. KAIST tells applicants to enter the recommender's address accurately and recommends a Gmail or Yahoo account, because some mail servers filter out the notification.
Choose a recommender by what they observed, not by their title
The eligibility the guidelines define is a relationship, not a rank. Ewha writes that the recommender need not be your supervisor but must be a university professor who has taught you, and retired professors are accepted; to use anyone other than a professor you must first check with the department. SNU's graduate track allows a professor at another university or a workplace supervisor when a professor from your own university cannot write. Yonsei accepts anyone able to assess your academic ability but recommends a professor from your university. Ewha adds that the recommender must have no kinship with the applicant under Article 777 of the Civil Act (blood relatives within eight degrees, relatives by marriage within four degrees, spouse) and no other conflict of interest, and bears corresponding responsibility for a breach.
What the forms ask makes the standard clear. SNU asks how long and in what context the recommender has known you, Ewha asks how and for how long they came to know you, and KAIST asks for the length of contact in months. A well-known name who taught you for a single semester cannot fill that box.
The form is prescribed
Most letters are not free-form; they are a set form mixing a rating grid with written questions. SNU's graduate form has the recommender rate ten items, including academic achievement, academic motivation and future academic potential, on a six-point scale, and caps each written answer at 3,000 bytes (about 1,500 Korean characters or 600 English words). Ewha grades six items as unable to judge, below average, average, good, exceptional (top 3–10%) or truly exceptional (top 3%); Yonsei uses truly exceptional (top 2%), excellent (top 10%), good (top 25%), average and below average. The recommender has to place you in a percentile against other students.
So the material you hand over has to match those boxes. Ewha's form instructs the applicant to fill in the applicant section and then ask the professor who taught them, together with a transcript. The minimum package is the prescribed form file, your completed applicant section, a transcript, the deadline and the submission method. SNU runs the other way and bars the letter from naming the applicant or the names and employers of parents and relatives, so you also have to say what must be left out.
Ghostwriting and forgery cancel admission even after graduation
The first page of KAIST's recommendation form carries a clause the recommender must accept. The letter must be written by the recommender in person and state only facts, fairly and truthfully, and both recommender and applicant must cooperate with the institute's requests for factual confirmation. A similarity search is run on every submitted letter to check for plagiarism, ghostwriting and false information; if even one is found, the application is rejected and admission revoked. Drafting the letter yourself and collecting a signature is exactly what this catches.
The consequence does not end at the admission decision. KAIST applies a zero-tolerance policy to falsified documents, reserves the right to revoke admission even after enrollment or graduation, and may bar anyone involved in fraud from reapplying for up to five years from the date of discovery. Ewha cancels acceptance or admission where false entries or alteration are confirmed even if that fact did not affect the outcome, with no tuition refund. SNU, Yonsei and Korea University likewise treat forgery, alteration and proxy testing as grounds for rejection and cancel admission when discovered after enrollment. You also never see the submitted letter: on SNU's undergraduate form the applicant agrees to waive the right of access to it.
Recommendation requirements differ by university, by department and by admission year. This article was written from the 2027 guidelines of SNU, Yonsei, Korea University, KAIST and Ewha. Confirm the number of letters, the deadline and the submission method in the current year's guidelines for the university and department you are applying to.
Sources
- 서울대학교 입학본부 「2027학년도 전기 글로벌인재특별전형 학사신입학 모집안내」
- 서울대학교 입학본부 「2027학년도 전기 글로벌인재특별전형 대학원 모집안내」
- 연세대학교 입학처 「2027학년도 외국인전형 모집요강」 (추천서 항목 없음 확인)
- 연세대학교 일반대학원 「2027학년도 전기 외국인전형 모집요강」
- 연세대학교 일반대학원 「추천서 Letter of Recommendation」
- 고려대학교 국제처 「2027학년도 외국인 특별전형(신입학) 모집요강」 (추천서 항목 없음 확인)
- KAIST 「Admissions Guide for 2027 Admission」 (International Undergraduate)
- KAIST 「Letter of Recommendation for 2027 Admission」
- KAIST 대학원 추천서 제출 (추천인 로그인 토큰, 마감 후 수정 불가)
- 이화여자대학교 대학원 「전(全) 교육과정 해외이수자」
- 이화여자대학교 대학원 「제출서류목록」 (서식 5)
Information on this page is current as of September 2026.