Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter |

The Ministry of Justice extended the pilot operation period for two years to attract tourists from South-east Asian countries include Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia announced by the ministry on Thursday June 27,2024.

The Ministry of Justice announced that “we have expanded our operation to include general travelers in order to promote tourism to Korea by Southeast Asian tourists. The visa application process will be simplified and the group tourist visa will be issued to three or more people.”

As a result of a one-year pilot operation, group tours from Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia numbered 23,781 in the first half of 2023. 

Approximately, the number of entrants doubled to 47,397 in the second half of the year after the system was implemented.

However, the increasing trend shows that 56,427 people entered South Korea from January to the end of May 2024, which is greater than the second half of the previous year. 

On the other hand, there are also cases of tourists leaving groups for illegal employment, etc. 

Only 0.2% is the noted average departure rate in the second half of 2023.

The Ministry of Justice on behalf of observations said, “we will continue to monitor cases of unauthorized departure of group tourists to review whether to formally implement it, and we will seek to improve the visa system in a systematic and balanced manner by collecting opinions from related ministries and the tourism industry.”