Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter | China has suspended the issuance of short-term visas for South Koreans in response of South Korea’s imposition of travel restrictions on Chinese travelers over COVID concerns, said Chinese embassy on Tuesday January 10.

"Chinese embassy and consulates in Korea will suspend the issuance of short-term visas including business, tourism, medical, transit, or private affairs, for Korean citizens," and the measures would be "adjusted again in line with South Korea´s removal of the discriminatory entry restrictions on China” said embassy in Seoul.

Last month, Seoul imposed a ‘wave of restrictions’ on travelers from China, including visa restrictions, testing requirements and some flight limits, citing a surge in COVID-19 infections. 

According to official figures, 2,224 Chinese nationals landed in South Korea on short-term visas since January 2, with 17.5% testing positive on arrival.

Then, South Korea has taken the initiative of restricting the short-term visas to Chinese nationals, excluding public officials, diplomats and those with crucial humanitarian and business purposes, until the end of January.

Other restrictions include scaling back the number of flights from China and requiring all flights from the country to land at South Korea´s main Incheon International Airport.

Han Duck-Soo, the South Korean prime minister said last month on announcing the measures, “Seoul is "inevitably strengthening some anti-epidemic measures to prevent the spread of the virus in our country due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in China." 

On Monday, Park Jin, the Foreign Minister, South Korea told his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, “the restrictions were being imposed on a "scientific basis".

2019 and 2020 were the years, when tourists from China were counted for the largest proportion then other

foreign tourists visited South Korea, was making up 34.4% and 27.2%, respectively, according to Seoul´s official data.

But the number of Chinese tourists dropped significantly last year — from 6.02 million in 2019 to 200,000 for

January to November 2022 — making up only 7.5% of all tourists from overseas, South Korea´s culture ministry told AFP.