The South Korean government announced on Wednesday, that visa-free entry to Jeju island for holders of certain passports – including that of mainland China – would restart from June 1.
The Jeju authorities hope by then to see the resumption of international direct flights to the semi-autonomous region (pictured), which has a number of foreigner-only casinos, as well as being a general holiday island,
The national government has given permission for international flights to restart via Jeju’s airport from this month, but there are no such flights currently, GGRAsia has confirmed with the Jeju authorities.
All foreigners entering South Korea are required to be jabbed fully in advance, as well as needing to take a Covid-19 test within 24 hours of arrival at the port of entry. Any foreigner who is either unvaccinated, or produces a ‘positive’ result from a Covid-19 test after arrival, is required to undergo a seven-day quarantine.
According to a representative of the Jeju government spoken to by GGRAsia, Jeju’s own entry rules for any foreigner arriving on the island, were the same as the national government’s rules for arrival on the South Korean peninsula.
Therefore, any foreigner that had been tested in the specified time after arrival on the Korean mainland – and had either been cleared or quarantined – could enter Jeju without additional measures.
According to the national government’s announcement, Jeju’s visa-free entry scheme will allow citizens of most countries – including China – to stay in Jeju for up to 30 days.
The following places are excluded from the visa-free-arrival programme: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cuba, Egypt, the Gambia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
The visa-free entry scheme for Jeju had been paused from February 4, 2020, as a health and safety countermeasure amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The total number of foreigners entering Jeju in 2019 – the last year of trading prior to the Covid-19 pandemic – was 1,726,132, according to data from the Jeju Tourism Organization.
In 2020 and 2021 the arrival tallies were 212,767, and 48,278 respectively, marking a year-on-year decline of 87.7 percent and 77.3 percent, respectively.
The total of arrivals to Jeju by people from overseas – in the first quarter 2022 –was 10,307, an 8.4-percent increase from the same period of 2021, when the tally was 9,510.
