China reopens to South Korean visitors, ending Covid-19 tit-for-tat

Name: South Korean street vendors eagerly await Chinese tourists amid tit-for-tat Covid travel measures
Uploaded: 2023-02-15T02:00:56.000Z
Duration: 3 min 1 s
Description: South Korean street vendors eagerly await Chinese tourists amid tit-for-tat Covid travel measures

Short-term visas will once again be available from Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Seoul has announced

The decision follows hard on the heels of Seoul’s decision to lift restrictions on arrivals from China

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China will start issuing visas to South Korean visitors after Seoul dropped restrictions on Chinese arrivals. Photo: AP

Sylvie Zhuangin BeijingandZhuang Pinghuiin Beijing

Published: 10:00am, 15 Feb 2023Updated: 6:56pm, 15 Feb 2023

China will start issuing short-term visas to South Korean citizens on Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Seoul said on Wednesday morning.

Business, transit and general visas for personal visits will be reinstated, the embassy said in a statement that was released days after South Korea’s decision to resume issuing visas for Chinese visitors.

According to Seoul, the number of Covid-19 infections among Chinese arrivals has dropped significantly and the cases include only known variants of the virus.

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South Korean street vendors eagerly await Chinese tourists amid tit-for-tat Covid travel measures

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning last week described Seoul’s lifting of visa restrictions as “a step in the right direction”.

“China will actively consider the resumption of short-term visas for South Korean citizens on a reciprocal basis. We hope that the Republic of Korea will work with China to make the normal flow of people between the two sides more convenient,” she said on Friday.