South Korea cancels the visa regime for Russians from April 1

From April 1, 2022, an agreement on the mutual abolition of visa requirements between the Republic of Korea and Russia comes into force. This was reported by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR).

Thus, Russians who have an ordinary passport can enter South Korea without visas for a period of no more than 60 days if they are not going to work. At the same time, Russians can visit Korea for tourism purposes. Only the entry rules will differ depending on the vaccination status.

Tourists from Russia may be exempted from the mandatory week-long quarantine upon arrival in the country if they are vaccinated with Western vaccines. Those Russians who have been vaccinated with domestic drugs that have not yet been approved by WHO will have to be quarantined at their own expense.

In addition, regardless of the vaccination status, it is necessary to log in to the K-ETA foreign nationals entry system. You also need to do a PCR test within 72 hours before arriving in the country, get a certificate of the absence of symptoms of coronavirus and take another test upon arrival, waiting for the results in your hotel room.

Experts positively assessed the decision of South Korea to again accept tourists from Russia, despite not too loyal conditions. In addition, the tourist flow to Korea will increase, as there is a huge pent-up demand for it. Although prices in the country are quite high, the level of service, hospitality and infrastructure is very attractive to Russians.

On March 25, the press service of Rostourism reported that tour operators had taken 90% of Russian organized tourists from abroad. We are talking about 85 thousand people. About 5.5 thousand more organized tourists from the Russian Federation still remain abroad.