This QR code-based kit allows foreign visitors to use select mobile apps they use back home to make payments in Korea. (Korea Tourism Organization)

By Lee Jihae

Shopping transactions and checking in luggage just got easier and more convenient for foreign visitors.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has distributed 20,000 quick-response (QR) code kits to allow mobile payment through foreign apps, and Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) has expanded the reach of Easy Drop, a luggage check-in service, to the shopping district of Myeong-dong and Gangnam-gu District in Seoul.

In cooperation with the Korea Easy Payment Foundation, the KTO on Nov. 28 said it distributed 20,000 standard kits using QR codes for mobile payment.

The kits include QR codes for such payments and kit holders, outdoor promotional stickers and foreign payment leaflets.

Based on the domestic service Zeropay, the standard QR codes are connected to 17 mobile payment services abroad such as Alipay and WeChat Pay. Thus foreign tourists can use the mobile apps they use back home to make payments while traveling Korea, removing the need to install domestic apps.

Through Dec. 31, such travelers can receive discounts by paying through WeChat Pay, Alipay and UnionPay at traditional markets or businesses with standard QR codes. 

More information is available through this link on the KTO's official website (kto.visitkorea.or.kr/kor/souvenir).

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Incheon International Airport Corp. on Nov. 28 expanded Easy Drop, a baggage check-in service for departing foreign travelers, to cover the Myeong-dong neighborhood of Seoul. (Yonhap News)

In addition, foreign travelers can more easily check in their luggage for their flights leaving the country.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Nov. 27 said it teamed up with Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) to expand the service Easy Drop to the city's Myeong-dong shopping neighborhood and Gangnam-gu District.

Easy Drop allows departing foreign travelers to check in their bags at places other than domestic airports and receive them at the airports of their respective destinations abroad.

Before the expansion, the service was available for passengers of Korean Air, Asiana, Jeju Air and T'way at City Airport Terminal and Holiday Express Hotel in Seoul and Inspire Entertainment Resort and Paradise City Hotel in Incheon.

The service debuted in Myeong-dong at an office exclusively for checking in luggage near Exit 9 of Myeongdong Station.

The ministry and IIAC will expand the service early next year to areas with high concentrations of hotels and lodging facilities near Apgujeong and Sinsa stations.

jihlee08@korea.kr