Visa waivers for Chinese tourists to South Korea offered amid diplomatic thaw

South Korea has rolled out a temporary visa waiver programme for Chinese tour groups in the latest effort to help strengthen fragile ties.

From September 29, members of Chinese tour groups will be allowed to enter South Korea without a visa until June 30 next year, the office of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Wednesday.

It is the first time that South Korea has allowed travel visa exemptions for Chinese tour groups, regardless of point of entry. Previously, only Jeju Island offered such access, allowing group visitors visa-free stays of up to 30 days.

“With South Korea’s inbound tourism market recovering rapidly, the implementation of this visa waiver programme is expected to help boost demand for travel to Korea, revitalise regional economies and fuel domestic consumption,” a government official said, according to the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

Chinese nationals made up the largest group of overseas tourists travelling to South Korea, with about 2.5 million arrivals in the first half of this year, The Korea Herald reported, citing the Korea Tourism Organisation.

In November, Beijing announced a unilateral visa-free policy for South Koreans, allowing them to stay in China for up to 15 days until the end of this year.

The measure drove strong growth in South Korean travel to China, with passenger traffic from November to March up 20.4 per cent to 5.7 million visits, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Seoul.

  

​Read More