Visa-Free Visit Planned for Chinese
By Kim Tae-jong, Park Si-soo
Staff Reporters
Beginning this summer, the government plans to allow visa-free entrance for Chinese nationals.
Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han said Friday the measure is part of ongoing efforts by the new government to attract more tourists.
``The ministry will continue to ease visa restrictions on Chinese nationals so that we can get more Chinese tourists and hopefully help boost the economy,'' Kim told reporters at Incheon International Airport.
He visited the airport to inspect the immigration system for the first time since assuming his post. Kim said the government will give priority to easing restrictions on foreign tourists.
Visa-free entrance for Chinese nationals will be possible from July to September on a temporary basis and will be extended depending on its effectiveness, Kim said.
Currently, Korea runs a visa-free program on nationals from 49 countries but the strict and complicated visa policies keep Chinese tourists from entering Korea more regularly.
The number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea stood at 920,000 last year, accounting for only 2.7 percent of the total Chinese tourists traveling overseas.
The government will also introduce the multiple visa system to more Chinese people from late March to allow them easier and more frequent trips to Korea.
Plans are under way to introduce a system under which Chinese tourists visiting Korea with a group tour program will be exempted from filling out disembarkation cards.
There are however concerns that the deregulation scheme could increase illegal immigration.
As of March 7, there were a total of 230,000 illegal immigrants reported in Korea, of which 45 percent were Chinese.
According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Chinese were involved in about 30 percent of all drug crimes in 2007 involving foreigners.
A total of 58 Chinese drug offenders were arrested by the end of November last year, a more than four times increase from a year before.
``We predict the number of Chinese-related crimes, especially illicit drug trading, will increase should the government deregulate visa regulations for Chinese tourists,'' a prosecutor said.