[Exclusive] Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Specify 'Drug Crimes' in Travel Advisory Guidelines

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Discusses 'Comprehensive Drug Control Measures' at Meeting
Travel Alert System Guidelines Mention Drug Crime Provisions
Thailand and Canada Recent Drug Legalization Responses Discussed

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is pushing to specify drug-related crimes as an evaluation item for risk levels in the 'Travel Alert System Operation Guidelines.' This move aims to raise awareness when visiting countries where marijuana and other drugs have been legalized, such as Thailand and Canada, and to prevent the inflow of drugs into South Korea.

According to a comprehensive report from Asia Economy on the 2nd, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported the 'Drug Control Promotion Plan' containing this content as an agenda item at the joint drug control measures meeting of related ministries held on the 27th of last month, chaired by Visit Kyoo, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs manages the 'Travel Alert System Operation Guidelines' through an official directive and plans to include 'drug-related crimes' as an evaluation item for risk levels, which serve as the basis for travel alerts, within the first half of this year.

Currently, there are six risk evaluation items: crime, political instability, health, terrorism, disasters, and others. The ministry is considering explicitly specifying drug-related crimes under the first item, 'crime.' Until now, the crime category (Article 4, Risk Level Evaluation 1) only explicitly mentioned security concerns related to crimes such as murder, kidnapping, robbery, and theft. Although drugs were implicitly included within the concept of crime, there have been criticisms that the lack of explicit wording was insufficient.

If drug-related crimes are explicitly included in the travel risk level evaluation items, it is expected that travel alerts for countries where drugs are legalized will be comprehensively reflected. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues travel alerts in four stages (navy, yellow, red, black) based on a comprehensive evaluation of six risk items including crime, political instability, and health, and issues special travel advisories in the most severe cases.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been closely monitoring domestic impacts since Thailand legalized marijuana in June last year, and since this year, some drug regulations have been relaxed in British Columbia (BC), Canada. This is because Korean nationals who are non-permanent residents, such as international students or working holiday participants, may become involved in drug-related crimes. There is also a high risk that Korean travelers may unintentionally consume drugs abroad and violate domestic laws. Accordingly, the Ministry plans to strengthen prevention efforts targeting outbound travelers and overseas Koreans.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Asia Economy in a phone interview, “At the meeting on the 27th, we discussed measures to strengthen prevention, publicity, and multilateral consultations targeting not only countries where drugs have been legalized previously but also those that have recently legalized them.” The official added, “Revising the directive does not immediately raise the travel alert level for drug-legal countries, but the purpose is to include a ‘drug’ item within the crime category to manage the travel alert system for drug-legal countries more explicitly and intuitively.”

Separately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to increase information sharing through participation in international organizations and multilateral consultative bodies such as the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs scheduled for March, and to strengthen the response capabilities of related ministries.

Meanwhile, following President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of a ‘war on drugs,’ the Office for Government Policy Coordination has elevated the ‘Drug Control Measures Council’ to ministerial level (headed by Visit Kyoo, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination) and is making all-out efforts for a comprehensive, cross-ministerial response. The meeting held at the end of last month was attended by 12 ministries and agencies (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, National Police Agency, Coast Guard, Customs Service, Korea Communications Commission, National Forensic Service, and National Intelligence Service).

At the meeting, Director Visit urged, “Each ministry should respond to drug-related crimes with the determination to wage a war on drugs.”