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| Outbound passengers line up to board a flight to Haneda, Japan at Gimpo International Airport as the neighboring country permitted visa-free entry to citizens of 68 countries and regions again on Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Lee Hae-rin
Citizens of 68 countries and regions including South Korea are now allowed to enter Japan again without a visa starting Tuesday. Visa-free entry for Korean nationals to Japan had been suspended for two years and seven months amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Japanese government had posed strict border restrictions to control the entry of foreign coronavirus patients. On March 9, 2020, Japan halted visa-free entry for Korean nationals and shut down its borders completely to foreign nationals in November of last year.
The neighboring country has lifted its travel restrictions starting with overseas travelers entering for business and education in March, then allowing package tour groups to enter with visas in June.
Thus, starting on Tuesday, foreign nationals eligible to enter Japan for a short-term stay, the period of which varies by country, will no longer be limited to package tours. However, those traveling to Japan must present a valid certificate of their third coronavirus vaccinations and a negative test result from within 72 hours before departure.
Starting on Oct. 30, the number of weekly flights between Gimpo and Haneda will double from 28 to 56 to meet the growing travel demand, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced Tuesday.
The flights connecting South Korea and Japan first resumed with eight flights a week on June 29. About a month later on July 25, the number went up to 28 a week under a mutual agreement between the two governments.
Starting Oct. 30, Korean and Japanese carriers flying between the two countries, including Korean Air, Asiana, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, will be allowed to make two round trips between Gimpo and Haneda every day. The actual timeline of each airline increasing the number of flights is yet undetermined.
The ministry said it plans to continue talks with the Japanese authorities to increase flights to other Japanese destinations to meet travelers' growing demand following the reintroduction of visa-free entry.
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