Foreign travelers entering the country from June 1 through international airports on Jeju Island and in Yangyang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, will not need an entry visa if they observe quarantine guidelines. Shown here on are tourists from Thailand on April 15 viewing products at the main Shinsegae Department Store in the Myeongdong neighborhood of Seoul's Jung-gu District. (Yonhap News)

Foreign travelers entering the country from June 1 through international airports on Jeju Island and in Yangyang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, need no entry visa if they comply with quarantine guidelines.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Jeon Hae-cheol on May 4 told a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, "Following the implementation of quarantine exemptions last month for those entering the country from abroad, visa-free entry from June 1 will be allowed at the Jeju airport, which suspended its visa-waiver program in February 2020, and the Yangyang airport, which is in a region preparing international events."  

The visa waiver system allows short-term stays by foreign visitors coming for tourism or business.

Except for travelers from 24 nations announced by the justice minister like Iran, Sudan, Syria, Palestine and Afghanistan, international visitors next month can enter Jeju without a visa through Jeju International Airport for a 30-day stay.   

For Yangyang International Airport, tourist groups of five or more people from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Mongolia arriving at the airport can also stay in the country for 15 days without a visa and travel the Greater Seoul area and Gangwon-do. The waiver will be applied to nationals of the three Southeast Asian countries next month and to those from Mongolia in October.  

Minister Jeon said, "We expect to see an increase in the number of tourists and reinvigoration of the tourism market through convenient improvements to the immigration system."  

xuaiy@korea.kr