China to resume issuing short-term visas to Koreans from Saturday

People flock to a visa application service center in central Seoul Wednesday after the Chinese Embassy announced that it will resume issuing short-term visas to Korean nationals starting Saturday. [YONHAP]

China announced Wednesday it will resume the issuance of short-term visas to Korean nationals starting Saturday.

This comes 38 days since China suspended issuance of short-term visas to Koreans.

Korea also resumed issuing short-term visas to people traveling from China starting last Saturday as the ratio of those testing positive for Covid-19 on arrival dropped to the one-percent range.

The Chinese embassy in Seoul announced Wednesday morning through its WeChat account that the embassy and consulate general in Korea will lift its suspension of short-term visas for Korean nationals, for general visits and business, starting Feb. 18.

The Chinese Immigration Administration also announced that it will resume issuing transit visas to Koreans, which was also suspended since last month, on Saturday.

Normally, China allows transit passengers to stay in some cities without visas for up to 144 hours while waiting for a connecting flight.

On Jan. 2, Korea suspended the issuance of short-term visas to Chinese nationals visiting for less than 90 days for one month over concerns about the mass Covid-19 outbreak in China that followed Beijing's abandonment of its zero-Covid policy.

Travelers to Korea from mainland China also had to submit a negative Covid test result before boarding a plane and get a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on arrival. If they tested positive, they were quarantined at their own expense.

Exceptions were made for people traveling for business, diplomacy or humanitarian reasons.

Beijing responded by suspending short-term visas to Koreans on Jan. 10 in response to what it called "discriminatory entry restriction" measures against China. It suspended the issuance of transit visa exemptions for Koreans the following day.

At the beginning of this month, China began implementing Covid-19 tests for travelers coming from Korea, excluding its own nationals, in a tit-for-tat move after Seoul extended its visa suspension for Chinese nationals for another month.

On Friday, the Korean government announced that it decided to prematurely lift the suspension on visa issuances, which was supposed to run until the end of this month. It also lifted its restrictions on group tours on Saturday.

China did not confirm on Monday whether the mandatory PCR testing will be lifted. Korea still maintains Covid testing requirements for travelers coming from China.

The normalization of visa issuances returns the focus on whether the two countries can revive efforts to resurrect people-to-people exchanges both at the government level and in the private sector following the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as resume plans to increase flights between Korea and China.

Last week, China partially resumed overseas group tours for its nationals for the first time in nearly three years since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Tours are currently limited to 20 countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland.

Beijing had suspended overseas group travel since 2020.

However, not included on China's latest list of permitted countries for group tours was Korea. Chinese group tours account for the greatest demand for Korean short-term visas.

This also relates to the need for more flights between the two countries.

Currently, there are a total of 62 flights per week between Korea and China, with routes limited between Incheon International Airport and 17 Chinese airports in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Guangzhou.

This is only 5.3 percent of the number of flights prior to the pandemic, when there was an average of 1,162 flights per week in 2019.

The Korean Embassy in Beijing said it plans to discuss flight increases with the Civil Aviation Administration of China in line with the recent changes in policies.

While the resumption of short-term visa issuances is expected to come as a relief for Koreans who want to make a trip to China for leisure, family visits or business, observers say it may take a considerable amount of time for exchanges between the two countries to return to normal.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]