South Korea to Impose Entry Curbs on China Arrivals Amid COVID Surge

SK health authorities to limit fever drug purchases to deter Chinese from hoarding supplies

Amid growing concerns about the Omicron COVID-19 outbreak, staff members wearing protective equipment guide travellers at the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport, in Incheon, South Korea, on Nov. 30, 2021. Jung Yeon-je /AFP via Getty Images

South Korea announced on Friday that it would limit travelers from mainland China by imposing visa restrictions, limiting flights, and requiring mandatory COVID-19 tests.

The move came after the United States, Japan, India, Taiwan, Italy, and other nations announced entry restrictions on tourists from China as the country grapples with a surge in COVID-19 infections.

Effective Jan. 5, travelers from China must provide a negative PCR test result no more than 48 hours before boarding a plane to South Korea or submit a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours before departure.

They will also be required to undergo another PCR test upon arrival starting Jan. 2, officials said.

“Until February next year, those entering [South Korea] from China will be required to undergo a COVID test before and after their arrival,” South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday.

Han said that Seoul is “inevitably strengthening some anti-epidemic measures to prevent the spread of the virus in our country due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in China.”

In addition, Seoul will restrict the issuing of short-term visas to Chinese nationals until the end of January next year. The restrictions exclude public officials, diplomats, and those with critical humanitarian and business purposes.

And to effectively manage the China arrivals, Seoul is scaling back the number of flights from the country, and all flights departing China will now have to land only at Seoul’s main Incheon International Airport, Han added.

South Korean authorities also said Beijing’s move to stop publishing daily COVID-19 data adds to concerns over a new wave of infections and mutations, thus pushing Seoul to impose the new entry restrictions.

In order to prevent the spread of potential new mutated viruses into South Korea, Seoul’s pandemic prevention authorities have conducted “whole genome sequence analyses” on all confirmed COVID-19 cases entering the country from China since Dec. 16, according to The Dong-A Ilbo.

Unchecked Reopening of International Travel

Amid a major COVID-19 outbreak, China’s National Health Commission announced on Dec. 26 that the country would end all quarantine requirements for inbound travelers from Jan. 8, 2023.

Travelers walk with their luggage at Beijing Capital International Airport, amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing, China, on Dec. 27, 2022. Tingshu Wang /Reuters

Within 15 minutes of the announcement, searches for international flight tickets on the Chinese online travel agency Qunar increased sevenfold, with popular destinations including Thailand, Japan, and South Korea, according to a Nikkei Asia report.

And over on Trip.com, searches for popular overseas destinations were up tenfold within the first half-hour of the statement’s release, while searches for outbound flights and overseas hotels reached a three-year high.

Likewise, Alibaba Group’s travel service platform Fliggy saw international flight searches increase more than eightfold, and inbound flight searches hit a three-year peak.

Prior to the pandemic, China had been South Korea’s largest source of tourists.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), South Korea received 17.5 million foreign tourists in 2019, of which about 6 million were Chinese tourists, accounting for 34 percent, nearly double that of the second-ranked Japanese tourists (3.2 million), Aju Business Daily reported.

‘Largest COVID Outbreak in the World’

Beijing abruptly eased its strict COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month after historic discontent over the draconian curbs. But without adequate planning and measures for a graduated retreat from the policy, the health system was left ill-equipped for a rapid rise in cases among a population that had little natural immunity to the virus.

Overnight, frontline services in China were overcrowded, pharmacy shelves stripped bare, and hospitals stretched. Law enforcement facilities and judiciary shuttered.

People wait for medical attention at a Fever Clinic area in Tongren Hospital in the Changning district in Shanghai, on Dec. 23, 2022. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

As many as 37 million people are contracting COVID-19 in a single day in China, according to leaked minutes from a meeting of the country’s top health body confirmed by multiple news outlets.

The cumulative number of infections in the first 20 days of December likely reached 248 million—nearly 18 percent of the population—officials said during the National Health Commission’s internal meeting on Dec. 21, only 13 days after the regime rolled back some of its toughest anti-COVID measures.

The figure is exponentially higher than the regime’s official virus tally, and if accurate, it would mean that China’s outbreak is the largest in the world.

Limited Drug Purchases

Amid China’s major COVID-19 outbreak, panic buying of pain relievers and fever medicines has led to shortages in the country and abroad.

Empty shelves in a Walmart pharmacy due to supply shortages of cold, cough, and flu medication and increased demand due to seasonal illnesses in Edmonton, Canada, on Dec. 9, 2022. Jenari/Shutterstock

South Korea’s health ministry said on Friday that it plans to limit the sale of fever medicines to deter people from hoarding or buying to sell overseas after many reports of Chinese visitors acquiring large quantities from pharmacies.

“We will deal strongly with ... the recently reported hoarding of cold medicine and concerns of an adverse effect on cold medicine supply,” the ministry said in a statement.

According to Korean media NEWSIS, a Chinese national purchased about 6 million won (about $4,700) of fever and other related medicines at a pharmacy in Hanam, a city in Gyeonggi Province, sparking public concern in South Korea.

The report said South Korean Law stipulates that “pharmacy operators are not allowed to sell drugs to buyers in the form of wholesale. Violations may be punished with up to one-year imprisonment or fine up to 10 million won (about $7,900).”

The Korean health ministry on Dec. 28 sent a letter to the South Korean Convenience Store Industry Association, asking its members and related companies to prevent excessive sales of cold medicines.

The Korean Pharmaceutical Association also said on Dec. 29 that it would demand disciplinary action and file complaints with relevant authorities over its member’s behavior of selling cold medicines in large quantities.