South Korea extends suspension of short-term visas for Chinese travellers : Moodie Davitt Report

SOUTH KOREA. South Korea has announced plans to extend its suspension of short-term visas issued to travellers from China.

Citing the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Friday, local broadcaster KBS News reported that the updated regulation will take effect through to 28 February. The government said the decision was due to the uptick in Covid-19 cases in the country.

As the Chinese government has scheduled to resume outbound group tours on 6 February, South Korea has extended the suspension of visas to short-term travellers from China. [Source: KBS News]

This extended travel curb comes amid the Spring Festival period, the busiest travel season in China.

Fears of virus resurgence have prompted South Korean authorities to extend restrictions on issuing travel visas to Chinese tourists. [Photo source: www.gov.cn]

According to KBS, authorities may restart issuing short-term visas if the virus situation in China improves.

On 10 January, South Korea stopped issuing short-term visas at its consulates in China over concerns about the resurgence of Covid-19 cases, just days after Beijing lifted inbound and outbound travel restrictions.

The move drew strong criticism from China. In response to what it damned as “discriminatory” action, Beijing halted issuing visas to citizens of South Korea.

The Korean restrictions on travellers from China also include a requirement for negative pre- and post-arrivals PCR test results.

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