By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
More foreign languages will be used on road signs at tourist sites nationwide as part of moves to boost local tourism.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday that it will add Chinese or Japanese directions to road signs in addition to the current Korean and English.
``Brown signs indicating tourist sites will have an additional language. Some of them already have Chinese, but the characters are traditional Chinese. New signs will have simplified Chinese, which is more convenient for Chinese people,'' a ministry official said.
Whether to adopt Chinese or Japanese is up to each local authority, he said, depending on how many visitors from China or Japan the region attracts. ``For example, Chinatown in Incheon will have Chinese signs, while Busan and Nami Island in Chuncheon, popular destinations for Japanese travelers, will have Japanese ones,'' he said.
After about a year of pilot operations of the signs at several regions, the project will be expanded to the whole country.
Visa systems will also be improved. ``For Russians who stop over in Korea on their way to Southeast Asia, we will issue multiple-entry visas, so that they can have stopover trips here on their way from and to the Southeast Asian countries,'' the official said.
So far, those holding visas for the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand can have stopover tours here without a separate visa for Korea. The ministry will expand the visa-free entry to those holding visas for France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The government also plans to introduce various transportation modes: Open-top double-decker buses will be allowed for city tours, and light planes for 20 to 50 people will operate to facilitate access to islands. Trains will have compartments in which people can store their bicycles.
More hostels and campsites will be set up for budget travelers.