Visa-free entry fully resumed for Japan, Taiwan, Macau visitors

People wait in line at the Gimpo International Airport to check-in for their flights on Oct. 11, the first day visa-free travel to Japan was resumed. [YONHAP]

Visa-free entry for visitors from Japan, Taiwan and Macau will be made permanent in November, ending what had been a temporary resumption of their visa-free privileges.

Japan, Taiwan and Macau are the three Asian places benefitting from this change of rules, according to the Central Disease Control Headquarters Wednesday.

Visitors from Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Micronesia, Samoa and Tonga in Oceania will also be allowed to enter Korea without visas starting in November.

All these countries currently allow Koreans to enter without a visa but their citizens are not allowed visa-free entry to Korea.

Previously, the Korean government extended its temporary visa-waiver program for travelers from Japan, Taiwan and Macau through October and suspended visa-free entry for five countries in Oceania.

With the latest decision, visa-free travel will be fully resumed for the 91 countries for which they had been suspended during the pandemic.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]