Vacationers move to a rental car parking lot after landing at Jeju International Airport, the gateway to Jeju Island, on July 10, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju will adopt an e-travel authorization system for foreign arrivals from visa-free nations starting next month, officials said Friday.
The plan to introduce the Korea Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA) came after hundreds of Thai tourists who recently entered Jeju for tourism disappeared or were turned away over suspected overstay attempts.
The Seoul government had so far exempted foreign arrivals through Jeju International Airport from the K-ETA, taking into consideration that Jeju is a tourist spot.
Starting next Thursday, citizens from 112 visa-waiver countries, including Thailand, must obtain the ETA online before traveling, according to the Ministry of Justice.
The K-ETA is an online electronic travel authorization that foreign visitors from visa-free nations need to obtain before entering the country for the purposes of tourism, visiting relatives or business.
They are required to submit personal and other information through a website or a mobile application.
South Korea first introduced the K-ETA in September last year for 112 countries with which it has visa-waiver agreements or other similar arrangements to allow no-visa entry.
The move is aimed at tightening the screening for possible illegal entry by foreigners taking advantage of the visa-waiver program, the ministry said.
Out of 1,504 Thai nationals who arrived at Jeju International Airport from Bangkok through a direct Jeju Airlines flight between Aug. 2 and Aug. 22, 855 were denied entry and forced to return home, the ministry said.
Of the other 649 people who entered the country for a three-day tourism program, 101 broke away from their tour groups and disappeared, officials said.
(Yonhap)
