South Korea likely to end suspension of short-term visa to Chinese

SEOUL - Korea might end the suspension against issuing short-term visas to Chinese nationals earlier than planned as the Covid situation seems to be normalizing.

Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on Tuesday that the decision to do away with the suspension comes as the Covid-19 situation in China appears to be stabilizing.

The agency's director Jee Young-mee told newsmen that the mandatory PCR testing for all arrivals from China and Q-CODE uploads will continue throughout February as planned earlier.

"Although the official data has not been released yet, it is certain that the Covid-19 situation in China has significantly stabilized and is on a downward trend, according to various local sources," Jee said in a press meeting.

"New variations have not turned up, and the increase after the Lunar New Year holiday is close to none," the official added. 

"Covid-19 may as well be a virus that will stick around for a very long time, or even forever, but it is clear that we can see the end of a very long tunnel," the KDCA director highlighted with hope and added that this year will be Korea's first year to return to normalcy.

South Korea had suspended short-term visa applications from its consulates in China until the end of January. Seoul also required people traveling from China to take a PCR test within 24 hours of arrival and remain in isolation until receiving negative results.

Moreover, from January 5, South Korea had also asked people traveling from China to present a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of departure or a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours.

"Our government's public health measures for those coming from China are actions based on scientific and objective evidence," South Korea's foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk had said at a briefing.

In response, Chinese authorities had also stopped issuing short-term visas to South Korean citizens in the backdrop of Covid restrictions imposed against China.