Universities have increasingly pursued 'world-class status' and have prioritized internationalisation efforts. South Korean universities have accordingly invested billions of dollars in attracting foreign students and faculty, increasing English-medium instruction courses, and teaching curriculum related to global competence. This article applies a theory of cosmopolitanism to understand the relationship between global competence and student identity within internationalising South Korean universities. I argue that cosmopolitanism manifests in student identities at such universities in articulations that are contested and variegated. My findings suggest that cosmopolitanism demonstrates theoretical potential to conceptualise global competence in ways that overcome its critiques as Western-centric and elitist.