South Korea will again issue short-term visas to visitors from China from this weekend, authorities announced on Friday February 10, ending an anti-Covid measure that had offended Beijing.
Seoul will "
remove short-term visa restrictions for China and resume issuance from February 11,
" the country's Center for Disease Control said in a statement.
No signs of further virus spread
South Korea had imposed these restrictions, among others, in January, when its Chinese neighbor was facing a significant resurgence of Covid on its territory.
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South Korean authorities said the rate of passengers testing positive on landing after departing from China fell to 1.4% last week, from 20% when the restrictions were introduced.
Dropping those for short-term visas is consistent with the current situation in China, where there have been "
no signs of further spread of the coronavirus or mutations after the Lunar New Year
", it said. the Center for Disease Control.
Other restrictions like mandatory testing remain in place: all travelers arriving from China must present a negative one before takeoff and take a new PCR test on the day of arrival in South Korea.
Visitors then declared positive for the virus are obliged to observe a week of quarantine.
“Discriminatory” measures
In January, China deemed the measures imposed on its travelers "
discriminatory
" and retaliated by in turn suspending the granting of short-term visas to South Koreans.
South Korea has not imposed pre- and post-flight tests on travelers from all other countries since last year.
On January 30, it abolished the wearing of compulsory masks in most indoor spaces, excluding transport and health establishments, ending one of the last anti-Covid measures in force in the country.
