150+ of 300 · TOPIK II · upper intermediate
150 or more out of 300 on TOPIK II. Only 30 points above Level 3, but in practice the gap is real: reaching 150 means solving part of the long-passage questions in the second half of Reading (26–50) as well.
General understanding of news and newspaper articles, performing simple work tasks in Korean, reasoning about unfamiliar social and abstract topics. Familiarity with common idioms and culturally loaded expressions. Around 5,000 words.
Level 4 is the academic threshold. Most Korean universities require TOPIK 4 to GRADUATE from a bachelor's degree (even when 3 was enough to enter). Many graduate programmes ask for 4 outright. Government bodies and large companies (Samsung, Hyundai, LG) generally expect 4+ from foreign staff. It earns substantial points on the F-2-7 visa, and in the KIIP programme Level 4 can place you directly into stage 5.
The deciding section is Reading, questions 26–50: newspaper headlines, the main idea of abstract passages, putting sentences in order. Reading one Korean news article a day (e.g. 연합뉴스) with a dictionary is the habit that pays off fastest. In Writing you need to produce a full 600–700 character question 54 with an introduction–body–conclusion structure. Level 3 to Level 4 usually takes 4–6 months.