South Korea To Grant Filipinos Visa-Free Entry For Winter Olympics 2018

A  Korean news agency last week announced that South Korea will temporarily allow tourists from the Philippines to visit without a visa for the Winter Olympics 2018.

Yonhap news agency said Filipino tourists will be allowed to come to the Olympic host city Pyeongchang until April 2018, but only if they enter through the regional YangYang airport.

South Korea’s top economic policymaker said the relaxation of visa restrictions is part of a broader effort to boost the tourism industry. It cited that tourism industry “creates more jobs than other sectors.”

South Korea is hosting the Winter Olympic Games for the first time.

The quadrennial sports event will kick off in February.

“The Winter Olympics is about 100 days away and the improved relations with China will give fresh momentum to the local tourism industry,” Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon was quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Aside from the Philippines, citizens of two other Southeast Asian countries – Indonesia and Vietnam – will also be granted temporary visa-free entry.

The policymaker of South Korea also extended the waiver on the $15 visa fee for Chinese tourists with electronic passports to the end of next year from the end of this year.

The report cited how South Korea’s tourism sector has struggled for several months due mainly to security and political issues. 

It particularly mentioned that number of Chinese tourists fell by 60 percent on-year every single month since spring this year.

Watch the video report below via UNI:

Source: Philstar