Foreign News Agency reported on February 10 that Kim Sung-ho, the second overall adjustment officer of the South Korean Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at a headquarters meeting on the 10th that the epidemic in China has passed its peak and has stabilized. The issuance of short-term visas to South Korea for Chinese citizens will resume on the 11th.
While taking the above measures, the South Korean government will consider various factors and circumstances, and consider relaxing other epidemic prevention measures for people entering China in stages.
Jin Xinghao announced that the positive rate of new crown arrivals from China has recently dropped to less than 2%, and the confirmed cases from China have not been detected to focus on mutant strains.
On January 6, at Incheon International Airport, tourists entering from China entered through a dedicated channel. Source: Yonhap News Agency
Prior to this, South Korean Presidential Office officials responded at a press conference on the 9th to media reports on the cancellation of short-term visa restrictions for Chinese citizens to South Korea. saying that South Korea and China are coordinating and communicating on related matters. The official said that the formulation and lifting of the standards must meet the standards, and South Korea and China are maintaining communication on the measures to cancel the suspension of visa issuance.
In addition, a senior official of the South Korean embassy in China said in an interview with a Korean media reporter in Beijing on the 6th that the new crown epidemic in China has stabilized, and he hopes that the conflicts between the two countries around the epidemic prevention measures can be resolved as soon as possible. The official said that related issues should not negatively affect South Korea-China relations. It is hoped that the current situation caused by the epidemic prevention measures will be alleviated within this month.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-soo also hinted a few days ago that it may consider canceling the anti-epidemic measures for entry into China in advance. He said that the South Korean epidemic prevention department will consider taking relevant measures based on the epidemic situation in China and the trend of positive rate of entry from China.
The South Korean embassy and consulate in China will suspend the issuance of short-term residence visas for Chinese citizens to South Korea from January 2 (except visas for entry purposes due to diplomatic and official needs, necessary business operations, or humanitarian reasons), and require entry from China Passengers shall provide proof of a negative pre-departure COVID-19 test and undergo a landing inspection. China then suspended short-term visas for Korean citizens to China, and announced the suspension of the 72/144-hour visa-free transit policy for Korean citizens in China. On January 27, South Korea decided to extend the suspension of the issuance of short-term visas for Chinese citizens to South Korea until February 28. Afterwards, China decided on the 31st to carry out landing inspections for people entering China from South Korea.
According to data released by South Korea’s Central Anti-epidemic Countermeasures Headquarters on the 4th, the positive rate of the new crown arrival test for passengers entering China from China that day was zero. This is the first time since South Korea implemented the new crown inspection for short-term stay personnel entering China after more than a month.
According to statistics, a total of 1,136 people entered the country from China that day, 164 of whom were tested for the new crown nucleic acid after entering the country, and no one was confirmed to be infected. From the 22nd to the 28th of last month, 7,399 people entered China from China, of which 7,272 were tested for the new crown nucleic acid after entering the country, and 146 were confirmed to be infected. The positive rate was 2%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the previous week
