By Kim Hyelin and Kim Min-Jeung


Korea will issue multiple entry visas to citizens from Mongolia, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine, once those applicants meet certain criteria, starting on July 16.

Besides Mongolia, the Ministry of Justice announced that Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine joined the list because they are target countries for the Moon administration's New Northern Policy aimed at bolstering economic cooperation with countries to the north of Korea and beyond.

Specialist and technical workers, entrepreneurs, journalists and people who hold a graduate or doctoral degree, as well as people with certain amounts of income or savings, from those four countries will now be eligible for multiple entry visas into Korea.

The visa will be valid for one to five years and its holder can travel freely to and from Korea during that period of time. Applicants will be able to stay in Korea for 30 to 90 days each time they enter the country.

With citizens of Mongolia, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine all eligible for multiple entry visas, the Moon administration's New Northern Policy will now be able to better build the groundwork for Korea to become a true gateway to Europe and Northeast Asia.

Mongolia was recently added to the list in order to ease a prolonged visa application and evaluation process, as more Mongolians have applied for Korean visas recently. .

"The measures will not only bring more international tourists and help Korean companies expand overseas, but they will also facilitate people-to-people exchanges," a ministry official said.

kimhyelin211@korea.kr