Korea to relax entry rules for Chinese visitors

The Korean government will drastically ease visa restrictions for Chinese visitors who have a reliable social status. From August, the entry bar will be lowered for Chinese tourists who apply for multiple-entry visas and visa issuance procedures will be simplified.

This announcement was made at a crisis management meeting in Seoul Tuesday on attracting more visitors from China this summer. The measures included all proposals made in a Dong-A Ilbo series of articles titled "Marking 20 Years of Korea-China Diplomatic Ties: The Future of KORINA", such as extending the validity period of multiple-entry visas, simplifying the visa issuance process, and promoting greater use of the Chinese yuan and China Union pay card.

Seoul will ensure that negative side effects of the eased immigration rules are avoided, such as an increase in the number of illegal immigrants. Korea issues multi-entry visas to Chinese with a reliable social status, including medical professionals, lawyers, university professors and school teachers.

The eligibility for multi-entry visas will be expanded, however, to Chinese with solid financial means such as medical tourists, employees of foreign investment companies, staff at state-run businesses, and those who have visited Korea more than twice.