<p>South Korean government and universities have actively sought to attract international faculty members through various government-driven initiatives, leading to a rapid increase in international faculty members. However, Korean universities are consistently faced with international faculty retention issues, highlighting the need to examine measures that allow long-term sustainability of international faculty career trajectory in Korea. In this context, this study investigates the career development experiences of 22 international faculty members at four Korean research-focused universities through semi-structured interviews with specific focus on challenges and dilemmas. The findings reveal various career development challenges, including ambiguity in role expectations before arrival, stringent and misaligned evaluation standards, limited access to resources and mentoring support, and marginalization within the academic community. The study further identifies key dilemmas international faculty face, such as prioritizing short-term research productivity over long-term integration, relying on international networks over local ones, and negotiating the paradox of marginalization. Additionally, discipline-specific challenges regarding career success are particularly highlighted in the arts and humanities due to disparities between the local and global academic landscapes. The findings from this study contribute to the broader discourse on international academic career sustainability in semi-peripheral non-English-speaking country contexts.</p>