From Oct. 8, Korean and Japanese businesspeople traveling between the two countries on short-term business trips will be exempt from quarantine upon entry and can conduct economic activities as long as they follow set quarantine procedures. (Yonhap News)
By Lee Kyoung Mi and Lee Jihae
From Oct. 8, Japanese and Korean businesspeople visiting Korea or Japan on short-term business trips will be exempt from quarantine procedures and can immediately conduct economic activities if they undergo a set procedure.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Oct. 6 said that Korea and Japan agreed to begin from Oct. 8 a special entry procedure for businesspeople from both nations.
This means personnel exchanges will resume since being blocked seven months ago due to COVID-19.
The new policy agreed by the two countries is divided into a "business track" for those on short-term business trips and a "residence track" for those staying long-term such as expat workers and international students. Those in the latter track must undergo 14 days of quarantine upon entry in either country.
The business track allows Korean and Japanese businesspeople to conduct economic activities without quarantine after entering either country if they follow a special quarantine procedure.
Those falling under the residence track, or those with long-term residence and thus required to undergo two weeks of quarantine, can also enter either country via the business track if they undergo a designated procedure. Those visiting Japan for diplomacy or public affairs are also eligible for the business track.
Visa exemptions between the two countries remain suspended, so if a Korean businessperson wants to visit Japan, he or she must submit to the Japanese Embassy in Seoul a written statement from the inviting Japanese company and written plans for his or her activities in the country.
A Korean businessperson must get his or her health and body temperature checked for two weeks before leaving Korea and present a document confirming a negative test for COVID-19 within 72 hours of flight departure.
Upon entry in Japan, a Korean businessperson must get retested for COVID-19 and install a smartphone app to check his or her health and save locational information for two weeks. And based on one's written plans for economic activity, he or she can go back and forth only between home and work and cannot use public transportation.
This quarantine procedure will also apply to a Japanese businessperson visiting Korea.
Japan is the fifth country to conclude such an agreement with Korea, following China, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Singapore. Korea is the second country to agree to the procedure with Japan after Singapore.
The ministry said in a statement, "Through this agreement, we expect personnel exchanges to resume with Japan, Korea's No. 3 trading partner and No. 2 personnel exchange nation."