South Korea to reopen its borders from June 1

Authorities in South Korea have announced they will resume issuing short-term tourist visas for individual tourists and tour groups.

South Korea.- South Korea will allow the entry of foreign tourists from June 1. Independent travellers will be able to enter through what is known as C-3 visas while those travellers who arrive in groups will be able to enter with an eVisa.

Authorities in South Korea had already announced that they would resume visa-free entry to Jeju Island for holders of certain passports, including those from mainland China, from June 1. That’s now been expanded to the rest of the country.

Currently, the country issues C-3 visas on a limited basis for essential purposes. As a health and safety measure during the Covid-19 pandemic, the eVisa programme has been suspended since April 2020.

South Korea’s Ministry of Justice said travellers from countries classified as “level 1”, meaning a low risk of spreading Covid-19, by South Korean quarantine authorities can apply for such visas for the Korean peninsula.

According to authorities, the visa-free entry programme will allow citizens of most countries to stay in South Korea for up to 90 days for tourism, business trips, medical treatment, visiting relatives, and conference attendance.

Due to countermeasures and travel restrictions, in 2020 and 2021, the number of arrivals was 212,767 and 48,278, respectively, down 87.7 per cent and 77.3 per cent from 2019. In the first quarter of 2022, the total number of overseas arrivals on Jeju Island was 10,307, an increase of 8.4 per cent when compared to the same period in 2021.