(Seoul) South Korea will again issue short-term visas to visitors from China starting this weekend, authorities announced Friday, ending an anti-COVID-19 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.
South Korea had imposed these restrictions, among others, in January, when its Chinese neighbor was facing a significant resurgence of COVID-19 on its territory.
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.
The dropping of short-term visa restrictions 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 such as mandatory tests remain in place: all travelers arriving from China must present a negative one before take-off and take a new PCR test on the day of their arrival in South Korea.
Visitors then declared positive for the virus are obliged to observe a week of quarantine.
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.
On Friday, Beijing welcomed Seoul’s decision and said it would “actively consider reciprocally resuming the issuance of short-term visas to South Koreans visiting China,” according to a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
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-19 measures in force in the country.