Transfer comes after Seoul final week scrapped COVID-related journey restrictions for arrivals from China.
China will resume short-term visas for travellers from South Korea after Seoul scrapped pandemic-related journey restrictions that angered Beijing.
China will start processing short-term visas for South Koreans for “enterprise, transit and different personal affairs” from Saturday, the Chinese language embassy in Seoul mentioned in a publish on its official WeChat account on Wednesday.
China stopped issuing short-term visas to South Koreans in January after Seoul slapped COVID restrictions on travellers from China amid considerations Beijing’s sudden dismantling of its controversial “zero-COVID” coverage may spawn new coronavirus variants.
The South Korean authorities started issuing visas final week amid reviews China’s wave of COVID infections had peaked, after beforehand indicating it could limit visas till the top of February.
China’s overseas ministry on the time known as South Korea’s transfer a “step in the precise route” to facilitate people-to-people exchanges between the 2 nations.
Greater than a dozen nations together with Japan, South Korea and the USA launched journey restrictions on arrivals from China after Beijing scrapped lockdowns, mass testing and quarantine following uncommon mass protests late final 12 months.
Beijing condemned the curbs as discriminatory and missing in scientific foundation. Some well being consultants additionally questioned the necessity for the curbs given the unfold of the virus elsewhere and the extensive availability of vaccines.
South Korea is one in all China’s prime sources of tourism, with greater than 4 million South Korean guests to the nation in 2018. Chinese language nationals are the largest group of vacationers in South Korea, accounting for greater than one-third of the 17.5 million arrivals in 2019.
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