By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Koreans will be allowed to travel to the United States without visas for stays of up to 90 days after Seoul was officially added to the visa waiver program (VWP) today.
The simplified procedure to get a visa is expected to increase the number of South Koreans traveling to the country by 50 percent by 2011, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
However, the program does not guarantee trouble-free passage because an electronic approval system in which a traveler has to an approval prior to departure does not offer guidelines in Korean yet.
For a visa-free trip for up to 90 days for tourism or commercial purposes, a machine-readable passport containing data about the bearer is required.
The e-passport began to be issued here in August.
People hoping to travel to the United States without visas also have to get approval from the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) after inputting required information such as name, passport number and itinerary.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul recommends travelers to visit https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov and fill out the application at least 72 hours before their trip.
They must also have return tickets, and cannot change their visa status during their visit.
A person who was refused a visa before or has a criminal record is not allowed to get approval through ESTA.
The culture ministry said about 1.2 million South Koreans would likely travel to the United State by 2011 ― last year, approximately 800,000 did so.
However, some are skeptical over the increasing number of South Korean tourists as the ESTA is not convenient for the old and the computer illiterate.
The foreign ministry said the Web site would offer services in Korean but the system is provided in 16 languages including English, Japanese and Spanish but not Korean.
Besides, the weakness of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar has made travelers hesitant.
As financial woes are haunting the globe, the exchange rate skyrocketed to almost 1,400 won to the dollar Sunday.
Many of the 50 U.S. states had sought to establish a tourism office in Korea but cancelled their plans due to the soaring foreign exchange rate.