Starting from the end of next month until the first half of next year, group tourists from China will be able to enter without a visa.
On the 6th, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok held a meeting of the "Tourism Activation Mini Policy Task Force (TF)" at the Government Seoul Complex, allowing group tourists from China to enter without a visa from the 29th of next month until June 30, next year. This is in line with the proposal made to the government by the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning as a rapid promotion task.
China had allowed visa-free entry for our citizens since November last year. With this measure, Korea will implement a temporary visa-free policy before China's National Day (October 1–7). The government anticipates that the visa-free entry of group tourists from China will stimulate demand for inbound tourism and boost domestic consumption.
In addition, the government decided to expand the target of preferential review (fast track) benefits to enhance the entry convenience for foreign nationals participating in international conferences and to institutionalize this measure. Currently, the government is piloting a simplified immigration inspection system for key foreign visitors coming to Korea for events like international conferences.
The criteria for foreign participants eligible for the preferential review have been relaxed from more than 500 attendees to more than 300. The government also plans to end the pilot operation of the simplified immigration inspection system by the end of this year and formally institutionalize it starting next year.
Furthermore, the government will add "foreign patient attraction performance" to the criteria for outstanding medical tourism agencies. Previously, only agencies that had invited more than 30 medical tourism patients or treated more than 500 foreign patients in the past year were eligible for benefits such as electronic visa application authority. The government plans to change the system so that agencies can apply for outstanding agency status if they have attracted more than 500 foreign patients within this month.
Prime Minister Kim noted, "The 2025 APEC Summit will be a very important opportunity for tourism activation," and urged the swift preparation of a structured strategy and concrete plans that can be effectively promoted.