Angelina Jolie fights back tears as she drops son Maddox off at college in South Korea

Angelina Jolie fought back tears as she dropped her eldest son Maddox off for his first day at college in South Korea.

Footage emerged of the 44-year-old actress and her 18-year-old adopted son at Yonsei University on social media on Wednesday, with the screen star admitting she was feeling emotional about the big day.

An Instagram user shared a picture of Angelina and Maddox at the university, as well as a video where other students spoke to the actress and asked when she was heading home.

"I leave today," she replied, to a loud chorus of "awws" from the crowd. Pulling a sad face Angelina added, "I know, I'm trying not to cry."

Elsewhere in the clip she commented that Yonsei "seems like a great school", and encouraged the group to get together for a picture with her.

While Maddox previously looked around universities in America, including New York University, earlier this year, he eventually decided that Yonsei was the best place for him to study biochemistry.

“She’s so proud of Maddox,” a source told In Touch Weekly of Angelina. “She initially thought he might want to stay in Los Angeles and get into movies and animation.

“Angelina laid out a path for Maddox and a love of Asia, but she never thought he’d continue his studies in South Korea, let alone go to college there and study biochemistry. She couldn’t be more proud of him."

According to sources, Maddox, who Angelina adopted from a Cambodian orphanage, has been taking lessons in the Korean language to prepare him for his university stay.