South Korea considers that the situation in China stabilizes, and thus puts an end to an anti-Cavid measure which had crumpled Beijing.
MO12345LEMONDE with AFP
Seoul will “remove short -term visa restrictions for China and resume their issuance from February 11,” the country’s disease control center said on Friday, February 10 in a statement. South Korea had imposed these restrictions, among others, in January, when its Chinese neighbor faced an important resurgence of the COVVI-19 on its territory. China had judged the measures imposed on its travelers “discriminatory” and retaliated by suspending, in turn, the granting of short-term visas to the South Koreans.
This abandonment of restrictions in the issuance of visas for travelers from China matches the current situation in China. There was “no sign of a new propagation of the coronavirus or mutations after the Lunar New Year,” said the disease control center. According to the South Korean authorities, the rate of passengers tested positive for landing after their departure from China dropped to 1.4 % last week, against 20 % at the time of the introduction of restrictions.
Beijing plans to reciprocally resume the deliverance of visas to the South Koreans
Other restrictions, such as compulsory tests, remain in place, however: all travelers arriving from China must present a negative before takeoff, and pass a new PCR test on the day of their arrival in South Korea. Visitors then declared positive to the virus are forced to observe a week of quarantine.
Friday, Beijing welcomed Seoul’s decision and said that he was going to “actively consider reciprocating the issuance of short-term visas to the South Koreans who visit China”, according to a spokesperson for the ministry of the ministry Foreign Affairs.
South Korea no longer imposes tests before and after the flight to travelers from all other countries since last year. It abolished on January 30 the port of the compulsory mask in most interior spaces, excluding transport and health establishments, ending one of the last anti-Cavid measures in force in the country.