South Korea Mulls Lifting Short-Term Visa Ban on Chinese Travelers

China says it will do the same for South Korean visitors

Health workers guide travelers arriving from China in front of a COVID-19 testing center at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Jan. 3, 2023. Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images

South Korea is considering lifting its short-term visa restrictions for Chinese visitors ahead of the scheduled deadline due to the declining COVID-19 cases in China, according to a government official. However, there have been reports that the death toll is on the rise in China.

The visa restrictions on short-term Chinese visitors were initially imposed for the month of January, but the government later decided to push back the date to the end of February following the Lunar New Year celebration.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) commissioner, Jee Young-mee, said on Feb. 7 that the government planned to resume issuing short-term visas for Chinese travelers earlier, given the improved COVID-19 situation in China.

“We see that the infection cases in China are on a steady decline from various data. And no new variant has been reported there,” Jee said at a press conference, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Jee noted that the government would retain its requirement for Chinese travelers to provide a negative PCR test result before departure and after arrival in South Korea through the end of February.

China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) welcomed the move, with Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson Mao Ning calling it “a correct step” on the part of the South Korean government.

Mao stated that Beijing would “actively consider the resumption of short-term visas for South Korean citizens on a reciprocal basis.”

“We hope that the Republic of Korea will work with China to create more convenience for the normal flow of people between the two sides,” she told reporters on Feb. 10.

South Korea tightened curbs on arrivals from China and temporarily stopped increasing flights from the mainland after the CCP abruptly lifted its “zero-COVID” policy, which resulted in an explosive outbreak in China.

Seoul said the move was necessary to prevent the spread of potential new mutated viruses in South Korea. In a retaliatory move, Beijing suspended short-term visa issuance for South Korean citizens and condemned South Korea’s “discriminatory entry restrictions.”

The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Malaysia, and Qatar are just some of the countries that require passengers arriving from China to provide negative COVID-19 tests before arrival amid concerns over an increase in cases across the country.

The CCP has earlier threatened to “take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity” against nations that move to implement entry restrictions on its travelers.

China’s COVID Situation

Weekly COVID-19 deaths have dropped 70 percent since last February around the world, according to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month. But there have been reports that the death toll is on the rise in China.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Jan. 30 that he hoped the world would transition from the emergency phase in 2023. But his United Nations-backed agency indicated that it’s not time yet.

“We remain hopeful that in the coming year, the world will transition to a new phase in which we reduce hospitalizations and deaths to the lowest possible level, and health systems are able to manage COVID-19 in an integrated and sustainable way,” Tedros said.

Patients and caregivers are seen in an emergency room being used as an overflow area at a hospital in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 14, 2023. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

While WHO did not mention China’s COVID-19 numbers, it’s possible that the declaration on Jan. 30 was due to the latest COVID-19 death surge in China, which some analysts and experts say is vastly undercounted.

In a recent opinion piece, sinologist and military adviser Ben Lowsen warned that Chinese nationals could potentially face the country’s largest mass-death event since the Great Chinese Famine, sparked by the CCP’s disastrous Great Leap Forward of 1959 to 1961.

Lowsen wrote that the Chinese regime also withheld the death tolls during the famine and said an “ominous” repeat may occur. The regime has “essentially” given up on “providing COVID-19 statistics,” he wrote.

During the Great Chinese Famine under the Mao Zedong regime, between 15 to 55 million people died. Historians blamed the famine on Mao’s hardline economic policies that attempted to fill quotas while collectivizing farms.

Katabella Roberts and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.