SEOUL, May 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Demand for overseas travel is recovering as the government has lifted various quarantine policies including social distancing measures. Hana Tour Inc., South Korea’s top travel agency, reported 1,272 honeymoon reservations last month, accounting for up to 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Reservations have jumped more than tenfold since February [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean retailers are raising caution with tightening government restrictions aimed at addressing the spread of the Omicron variant. While department stores and shopping malls have been exempted from the quarantine pass policy, they are now banned from allowing customers to eat or drink on the premises. They have [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Ahead of next year’s presidential and local elections, the government is reviewing the idea of expanding the so-called ‘at-home voting system’ for those quarantined at home or at quarantine facilities for COVID-19. “We submitted a plan to expand coverage of the ‘at-home voting system’ to include those quarantined at [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The spread of the new omicron COVID-19 variant has brought back the mandatory 10-day quarantine for all travelers from overseas, surprising students studying abroad and businesspeople. “My younger sister is about to graduate, and it’ll become harder for her to visit South Korea after she gets a job overseas. [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency has set up X-ray machines at all exits located in Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 1 and 2 to tighten up quarantine procedures for animals and plants. The X-ray machines are expected to effectively block the entry of banned animals and plants. “There have [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s military will strengthen quarantine measures for troops returning from vacation and start a booster shot program earlier than planned amid growing fears of the omicron variant, officials said Friday. Starting Monday, the military plans to put returnees in quarantine until they test negative for COVID-19 twice. The [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Travelers returning home Friday from short-term overseas trips were embarrassed to learn that they must self-isolate at home for 10 days under the government’s emergency quarantine rule announced only two days earlier to stem the spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant. The 10-day mandatory quarantine for all inbound travelers [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea decided Wednesday to reimpose strict passenger screening at airports, mandatory quarantine and other measures to prevent the spread of the emerging omicron variant of COVID-19 after reporting the first such cases in the country. A married couple in their 40s, living in Incheon, west of Seoul, and [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — All-night Halloween parties and celebrations will not be possible at restaurants, cafes and other multiuse facilities this weekend, as the government decided Friday to enforce relaxed social distancing rules starting Monday morning due to COVID-19 fears. Ahead of this year’s Halloween, which falls on Sunday, health authorities are struggling [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Three quarters of South Koreans agree with the need to shift to the “living with COVID-19″ scheme, a poll said Friday, as the government is moving to phase out coronavirus restrictions under the new policy next month. According to the survey conducted early this month on 1,083 people aged [...]