International Relations Move
The Chinese government has decided to virtually fully permit overseas group travel for its citizens for the first time in over three years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, Chinese group tourism to South Korea will resume after more than six years, unlocking the travel restrictions that have been in place since March 2017, following the retaliations related to the U.S.’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery deployment.
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on Aug. 10 that it would allow group travel for citizens to 78 countries, including South Korea, the United States, and Japan. The ministry stated, “After tentatively resuming travel agency operations related to Chinese citizens’ overseas group travel, the travel market has been generally operated smoothly, promoting a positive role in travel exchange and cooperation.”
The countries where Chinese group travel is now permitted include: 12 Asian countries including South Korea, Japan, Myanmar, Turkey, and India; 8 North and Central American countries including the United States and Mexico; 6 South American countries including Colombia and Peru; 27 European countries including Germany, Poland, and Sweden; 7 Oceania countries including Australia and Papua New Guinea; and 18 African countries including Algeria, Tunisia, and Mozambique.
China had previously lifted group travel restrictions to 20 countries, including Thailand and Indonesia, in January of this year following the abandonment of its “Zero COVID” policy, and in March, added 40 more countries like Nepal, Vietnam, Iran, Jordan, France, Spain, and Brazil. However, countries like South Korea, the United States, and Japan were not included in the first or second rounds of group travel permissions.
With the Chinese government’s announcement, group tourism to South Korea has been liberalized for the first time in over six years. As retaliation for the THAAD deployment by the U.S. military in South Korea in March 2017, China effectively banned tourism to South Korea through travel agencies. Although the measure was not “explicit,” group package sales by travel agencies were halted altogether, and Chinese group tourism to South Korea came to a sudden stop.
From December that year, group tourism restarted in some regions in China, and in 2018, South Korean group tourism from six Chinese regions including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Beijing, and Shandong was allowed. In November of the same year, online travel agencies were allowed to sell group tourism packages, and the number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea began to increase again. From the second half of 2019, group tourism was partially possible nationwide.
The situation changed again around January 2020, when the COVID-19 situation began. China has maintained measures such as border closures, suspension of foreign tourist visas, and complete prohibition of overseas travel by its citizens. Group tourism to not only South Korea but the whole world was “explicitly” banned.
Chinese diplomatic authorities reportedly informed the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this change before announcing the resumption of group tourism.
The process of issuing travel visas to Chinese citizens in South Korea is also expected to be somewhat simplified. The Chinese Embassy in South Korea announced the day before through WeChat (China’s version of KakaoTalk) that the fingerprint collection procedure for issuing visas to China will be suspended for business (M), travel (L), family visits (Q), transit (G), and crew (C) visas until Dec. 31 of this year.