Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Jeju to introduce electronic travel authorization to curb illegal immigration

Jeju International Airport is crowded with tourists on July 22. NewsisBy Lee Hae-rinThe government plans to introduce a system called Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) on the southern resort island of Jeju, because an existing visa-waiver program has served as a conduit for illegal immigration and resulted in visitors from other countries staying beyond the dates listed on their travel documents, the Ministry of Justice said on Thursday. Also known as K-ETA, with K standing for Korea, the electronic travel authorization is the Korea Immigration Service's online system that authorizes foreigners to enter via internet and mobile applications. Passengers from 112 visa-waiver countries who wish to enter Korea may register their travel information and receive authorization before departure.The system has been in place nationwide since September last year, but Jeju, the country's top travel destination for international tourists, has been an exception.On June 1, the island's borders reopened along with a 30-day visa waiver program, which had been suspended since February 2020 to reduce

Aug 5, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

Jeju to introduce electronic travel authorization to curb illegal immigration

S. Korea to raise traveler's duty-free allowance limit to $800

A liquor store run by Lotte Free Duty in Seoul's Myeongdong area, Monday. NewsisSouth Korea plans to raise the limit of the duty-free allowance for inbound travelers to $800 per person from the current $600, the finance ministry said Friday.Currently, international arrivals ― both Korean nationals and foreigners ― can receive tax exemptions for the purchase of items worth up to $600 per person.The government has decided to raise the threshold in a bid to take into account an increase in income levels per capita and better support the tourism industry hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The limit was last raised in 2014.The revised enforcement rules of the Customs Act also calls for allowing international arrivals to bring in two bottles of alcohol from the current one bottle.Currently, the limit of the duty-free allowance for alcohol is set at a 1-liter bottle valued at $400 or less. The threshold will be raised for the first time since 1993.After a two-week notice period for the public, the revised rules will go into effect before the Chuseok fall harvest holiday set for Sept. 10-12.

Aug 5, 2022

S. Korea to raise traveler's duty-free allowance limit to $800

Liquor industry's collaboration with entertainment sector continues

Mokpo-based brewing company Bohae's new lineup of the soju, “Yeosu Night Sea,” features four paintings by webtoon artist Kian84. Courtesy of Bohae By Park Han-solIn recent months, the liquor sector has been seeking a breakthrough in terms of launching viral marketing to target younger drinkers in their 20s and 30s. Some have found the answer by forming collaborations with popular performers in the entertainment sector ― K-pop and webtoon ― with a wide following. Mokpo-based brewing company Bohae in South Jeolla Province announced Wednesday that it has released a new lineup of soju, “Yeosu Night Sea,” in collaboration with webtoon creator-turned-artist Kian84.Under the theme of “the smallest exhibition in the world,” the bottles' labels feature four of the artist's paintings that reinterpret the key characters and iconography from his webtoons ― “Fashion King” and “Bokhak Wang (King of the Returnees)” ― in a style of colorful, dynamic pop art.The QR code on the label

Jul 28, 2022By Park Han-sol

Liquor industry's collaboration with entertainment sector continues

Nearly 1.4 mil. visited Cheong Wa Dae since public opening: data

A crowd of visitors enters the main gate of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, May 10, during a celebratory event to mark the opening of the former presidential office and residence. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukNearly 1.4 million people have visited the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae since it opened to the public on May 10, data showed Thursday. A total of 1,396,859 people, including 5,055 foreigners, visited the complex in central Seoul through Wednesday since its public opening, according to data from the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) submitted to Rep. Kim Seung-su of the ruling People Power Party. The figure is far bigger than the number of visitors to the Gyeongbok and Changdeok palaces of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), some of the most popular tourist attractions in the capital, recorded over the past year. More than 89 percent of visitors were satisfied with tours of Cheong Wa Dae, with 87.5 percent willing to recommend the program to other people, according to a poll of 1,000 visitors conducted by the CHA from June 22-26.Kim said Cheong Wa Dae can become one

Jul 28, 2022

Nearly 1.4 mil. visited Cheong Wa Dae since public opening: data

New heritage tourism app lets visitors 'Touch Suwon'

Vice-Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Cho Yong-man, front row on left, and Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jung, to his right, among other guests to the ceremony of launching “Touch Suwon” at Suwon Convention Center on Wednesday, check out videos from transparent-OLED screens inside the tour bus “Memory of 1795,” a part of Touch Suwon's services for tourists visiting the city. Courtesy of Suwon City GovernmentNew smartphone app helps visitors navigate the city and its UNESCO heritageBy Ko Dong-hwanSuwon, the provincial capital city of Gyeonggi, has come up with a high-tech solution to change its somewhat dull image. Administrative officials of Suwon, which was officially designated as a special city and given access to a 3.5 billion won ($2.67 million) fund and another 3.5 billion won from the city budget, have developed and launched a new smartphone app called Touch Suwon to refurbish the city's lackluster image and boost the local tourism industry through this innovative method. The city had won the funding support after bidding in a national Smart Tourism City p

Jul 28, 2022By Ko Dong-hwan

New heritage tourism app lets visitors 'Touch Suwon'

Vacationers forgo traveling abroad due to soaring airfares

An empty departure lounge at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1, Monday. NewsisBy Lee Hae-rinChung Chae-young, a 29-year-old office worker in Gyeonggi Province, was looking forward to traveling to Southeast Asia right after the end of the pandemic-imposed travel restrictions. Even now that the restrictive measures are lifted, she has decided instead to take a short summer vacation in the southern city of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, due to sharply increasing travel costs.“Airfares went up immediately after the travel restrictions were lifted,” Chung said, explaining that the increase in travel costs, along with the resurgence of COVID-19 infections, were the major reasons why she put her overseas vacation plans aside and chose to travel domestically.Cho Jae-gyoung, 29, another office worker who had planned to visit a foreign country this summer, also opted for a trip to Ulleung Island in the East Sea. Cho and her friend said they were shocked to find that a round trip to Vancouver for two adults and a toddler costs around 10 million won ($7,637), which they believ

Jul 26, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

Vacationers forgo traveling abroad due to soaring airfares

Han River summer festival to hit riverside parks this week for 1st time since pandemic

This image of a nighttime riverside stroll program along the Han River is provided the city government of Seoul. YonhapA summer festival spanning the Han River's riverside parks in Seoul will kick off this week for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Seoul said Sunday.The summer edition of the 2022 Han River Festival will hit the river's 11 parks across the capital on Friday for a 18-day run, city officials said.The event marks the first full resumption of the annual riverside festival launched in 2013 after it was called off in 2020 and held online last year during the pandemic.This image of a movie night event along the Han River is provided by the city government of Seoul. YonhapThis year's festival will feature some 20 riverside activities and programs, including a racing competition for boats hand-made of PET bottles set for Aug. 6 at the Han River park in the city's southeastern district of Jamsil.Also included are a nighttime riverside stroll program scheduled for Saturday at the Yeouido Han River Park and a canoe riding event which will

Jul 24, 2022

Han River summer festival to hit riverside parks this week for 1st time since pandemic

Culture ministry seeks to turn Cheong Wa Dae into cultural complex

This photo, provided by the presidential office, shows President Yoon Suk-yeol, right, receiving a policy briefing from Culture Minister Park Bo-gyoon at the presidential office in Seoul, Thursday. YonhapThe culture ministry said Thursday it will push for transforming the former presidential home of Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul into a multipurpose cultural complex.Park Bo-gyoon, minister of culture, sports and tourism, reported the project to President Yoon Suk-yeol at his office as part of the ministry's major work plans.It marks the first time a government office has released a detailed plan to use the historical facility since it was opened to public access in May.There have been calls from some cultural heritage experts that the site should be preserved well as a cultural heritage site rather than a tourist destination.Cheong Wa Dae had been the presidential office and residence for the past 74 years before Yoon relocated the top office to the former defense ministry building in Yongsan in central Seoul. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), it was used as the rear garden of G

Jul 21, 2022

Culture ministry seeks to turn Cheong Wa Dae into cultural complex

Korea extends travel ban on Ukraine, six other countries

The departure lobby of terminal of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, bustles with overseas travelers, July 17. Yonhap Korea has decided to extend a travel ban on Ukraine and six other conflict-ridden countries, as well as some parts of Russia, Belarus and the Philippines, through the end of January next year for persistent security risks, its foreign ministry said Monday.The measure in place for South Korean nationals was slated to expire July 31. The six nations are Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Libya. Affected by the extension as well are some regions in Russia and Belarus, located within 30 kilometers of the Ukrainian border, along with the southern region of the Philippine archipelago.The ministry cited local security conditions, the high possibility of security instability and the risk of terrorism continuing there "for a considerable period of time." (Yonhap)

Jul 18, 2022

Korea extends travel ban on Ukraine, six other countries

INTERVIEW Contactless technology to reduce passenger stress amid COVID resurgence

Stefano Baronci, director general of Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Korea Airports Corp. (KAC) headquarters in western Seoul, July 7. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukLingering pandemic accelerates aviation industry's digital transformation: ACI director By Lee Hae-rinTraveling overseas can be a stressful experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. To relieve such jitters, airports need to step up efforts for digital transformation and technological innovation to help passengers travel without worries amid a resurgence of COVID 19 infections led by a new and highly-transmissible variant, according to the Asia-Pacific chief of an international organization of airport authorities.Stefano Baronci, director general of the Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific, said the pandemic has “brought technology to the fore and has only accelerated the digital transformation that was already in place before,” during an interview, July 7, with The Korea Times at the headquarters of the Korea Airports Corp. (K

Jul 18, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

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