Foreign Tourist Entry Procedures to Be Simplified

Government Announces 'Measures to Revitalize Foreign Tourist Visits to Korea'
Expansion of Group Tourists' K-ETA Bulk Application Scope
Increase in Direct Flights Between Regional Airports and Overseas Cities

Procedures for foreign tourists entering the country will be simplified, and direct flight routes between regional airports and overseas cities will be expanded.

On the 3rd, travelers visiting Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 ahead of the Children's Day holiday lined up to move to the boarding concourse. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 17th, the government announced the "Measures to Revitalize Foreign Tourism to Korea" at the Economic Ministers' Meeting. This is a measure to recover relatively slow tourism revenue. Although the number of tourists visiting Korea has steadily increased with the full-scale endemic phase, tourism trends have changed significantly. The proportion of individual travel has expanded compared to group tours, and spending tendencies have weakened as the focus shifted from shopping to cultural experiences.

The government plans to overcome difficulties by simplifying entry procedures, extending the length of stay, and promoting tourism consumption. In particular, it will focus on improving inconveniences that may be felt throughout the entire process of visiting Korea, including entry, regional tourism, and departure. The government will expand visa screening personnel and visa application centers to shorten the processing time for tourist visas and broaden the scope of group tourists’ collective applications for electronic travel authorization (K-ETA). It will also introduce passport automatic reading (OCR) functionality to simplify input information.

Efforts will also be made to activate high value-added tourism. A pilot operation of the "K-Culture Training Visa" will be conducted for foreigners wishing to participate in K-pop training, and a "Regional Specialized Digital Nomad Visa" (which diversifies visa requirements linked to incentives provided by local governments to foreigners) will be introduced to allow overseas remote workers to work in Korea while enjoying regional tourism.

Additionally, preferential immigration screening lanes will be provided for key participants of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) events, and international events that plan and operate companion tourism programs will be given preferential treatment in government funding reviews. Efforts will also be intensified to secure cruise tourists’ stay time by installing additional unmanned automatic screening machines and flexibly extending passenger terminal operating hours.

Foreign visitors to Korea spent the most money in Seongsu-dong rather than Myeongdong. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

The government will also expand direct flight routes between regional airports and overseas cities. New routes between Busan-Jakarta and Cheongju-Bali will be established in the second half of the year, and the frequency of flights on the Daegu-Ulaanbaatar route will be increased. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official stated, "We plan to continue discussions on establishing and increasing traffic rights with countries that have high demand for visits to Korea, such as the Philippines."

Conditions will also be created for foreign tourists to travel conveniently without luggage. The service that delivers luggage from KTX (Korea Train Express) stations to hotels will be expanded from nine locations to sixteen, and the area offering the "Easy Drop Service," which allows luggage check-in outside the airport before departure, will be significantly expanded. Tourists using the transit tourism program at Incheon Airport (allowing visa-free entry within 72 hours) will be provided with universal adapters, portable batteries, and other items to enable luggage-free sightseeing.

The government will improve the convenience of using map applications and public transportation. For the former, user reviews (in Korean) of major destinations such as popular restaurants will be translated into English and Chinese; for the latter, a foreigner-only transportation card that allows prepaid top-ups via mobile applications using overseas credit cards will be introduced. Reasonably priced short-term public transportation tickets are also planned to be introduced within the year.

On the 13th, customers, mostly foreigners, are selecting cosmetics at a cosmetics shopping mall in Myeongdong, Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

The government will also focus on providing unique entertainment options and improving shopping convenience. It will expand "K-Lifestyle" experience events that enjoy everyday Korean life such as "chimaek" (fried chicken and beer) and instant photo booths, and develop complex tourist resorts where various leisure and recreational activities are possible. Furthermore, it will support the exposure and promotion of excellent Korean small and medium-sized enterprise products within Hallyu video content such as dramas and movies to encourage viewing and purchasing. The mobile service for confirming duty-free product exports will also be expanded to seven regional airports.

The foundation for the development of inbound tourism will also be strengthened. Based on pilot project evaluations, the scope of foreign employment permits (E-9) will be expanded in terms of region and business experience requirements to resolve labor shortages in major areas with many tourist visits, and tourist interpreters for minority languages catering to Southeast Asian tourists will be nurtured. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "To prevent the deterioration of perceptions of inbound tourism due to practices such as overcharging by some merchants, efforts by local governments to manage prices at regional festivals will be reflected in the 'Local Price Stability Management Evaluation,' and a joint public-private inspection team will be activated to crack down on overcharging and unfair commercial practices at regional festivals and summer resorts."