S.Korea “Extends restrictions on short-term visa issuance to China until the end of next month”

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Printed Chinese and South Korean flags are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

“The possibility of re-proliferation through an increase in prevalence after the Chinese New Year and inflow from abroad cannot be ruled out”

The South Korean government has decided to extend the restriction on short-term visa issuance to China, originally scheduled until the end of this month, until next month.

On the 27th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (Critical Response Headquarters) said, “We have decided to extend the restriction on short-term visa issuance to China until February 28. However, if the situation improves even before then, visa issuance will be resumed. scheduled,” he said.

In order to minimize the impact of the worsening COVID-19 situation in China on Korea, the Korean government has not issued short-term visas at diplomatic missions in China since the 2nd, except for purposes such as diplomatic and official affairs, essential business operations, and humanitarian reasons.

When announcing these measures at the end of last month, it was explained that the limitation period was up to the 31st, but the issuance limitation period could be extended depending on the situation in the future.

In response, China also announced on the 10th that it would stop issuing short-term visas to Korean nationals.

Regarding the background of the extension of the measures on this day, the script explained, “The domestic quarantine conditions are improving, but the possibility of re-proliferation through overseas inflow, such as an increase in epidemics after the Lunar New Year holiday, cannot be completely ruled out.”

According to the quarantine authorities, out of 1,404 confirmed cases imported from abroad in the last two weeks, 890 cases came from China.

The cumulative positive rate of short-term foreigners since the last 2 days, when PCR testing for all arrivals from China began, was 10.4% (728 out of 6,977 confirmed).

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and do our best to stably manage domestic quarantine conditions,” the script said.

In addition to suspending short-term visa issuance as a countermeasure against the Chinese epidemic, the government is implementing measures such as conducting pre-entry inspections for entrants from China and suspending increased flights.

All passengers boarding flights departing from China, Hong Kong, and Macao to Korea must submit a confirmation letter certifying that they have a negative PCR (genetic amplification) test within 48 hours or a rapid expert antigen test (RAT) within 24 hours, and all entrants For those who enter the country, they are required to undergo a PCR test after entering the country, and this measure will be implemented by the end of next month. [yunhap news]

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