South Korea to resume issuing short-term visas to Chinese travelers on Saturday

(ECNS) -- South Korea will resume issuing short-term visas to Chinese travelers starting from Saturday, according to the country's disaster and safety management department on Friday.

Chinese travelers entering South Korea are required to present a negative COVID-19 test report taken within 48 hours and undergo a nucleic acid test upon arrival. If the test results are positive, they must undergo a 7-day quarantine, according to the department.

Kim Sung-ho, South Korea's vice interior minister in charge of disaster and safety management, said the positive rate among Chinese visitors to Korea has recently dropped to below 2 percent, and new strains of the virus have not been detected yet.

At the same time, the South Korean government is considering easing other epidemic prevention measures taken against Chinese travelers in stages, he said.

South Korea took discriminatory policies to suspend issuing short-term visas to Chinese travelers a month ago after China changed its COVID response.