South Korean government has announced that it has removed pre-departure COVID-19 test requirement for visitors, meaning that travelling to South Korea is now easier. The announcement comes just in time for South Korea’s Thanksgiving holiday, called Chuseok, which falls this week.
While travellers will longer have to undergo a pre-departure test to enter the country, they will still need to take a COVID-19 PCR test within 24 hours of their arrival in the country. The Asian country had already removed the mandatory quarantine requirement for unvaccinated travellers in June 2022.
The decision comes as the country is seeing a fall in the number of COVID-19 cases, something which also has influenced this decision. The relaxation in entry requirements comes at a time when pandemic-induced restrictions have been slowly easing not just in Korea, but across the globe as well.
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The weekly number of infections have declined for the first time in nine weeks and the virus is showing signs of slowing down.
said Lee Ki-il, Second Vice Health Minister, South Korea, to Reuters.
Presently, South Korea still has the mask-mandate in place, and those who test positive for COVID-19 need to isolate themselves for 7 days. However, the relaxations in travel are expected to bring in an influx of tourists into the country.
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