Update: Easing Up on COVID-19 Related Entry Requirements for Travel to Korea - March 15^th

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Korea has averaged over 300,000 daily new cases of COVID-19 for the past week. 60% of the population have had their booster shot while 85% of the population have competed their second. The government is loosening entry strictures and social distancing guidelines. These changes should make it easier to consider travel opportunities to Korea very soon.

Below are updates for visitors to Korea:

1. Quarantine exemption will start from March 21^st for visitors to Korea who are *fully vaccinated and have their vaccinations registered to Korea’s nationwide COOV system, whether those vaccinations occurred in Korea or in a foreign country.

2. Quarantine exemption will start from April 1^st for visitors who are fully vaccinated in a foreign country and who are not registered to Korea’s COOV system. These visitors will have to register their vaccination record in the Q-CODE (Quarantine Information Advance Input System / Quarantine Information Pre-Entry System) online system before boarding the plane. For more information please visit: https://cov19ent.kdca.go.kr/.  

3. Visitors from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Myanmar are currently excluded from eligibility for quarantine exemption, regardless of vaccination or registration status.  

4. All visitors are required to submit proof of a negative polymerase chain reaction test (PCR Test Certificate) conducted within 48 hours before boarding a commercial flight to Korea. (Specifications for the PCR testing certificate to be considered valid are included as supplemental information at the end of this document.) Upon arrival, all visitors are subject to a subsequent PCR test within one day of arrival. Additionally, visitors must also undergo a RAT (rapid antigen test) on either the sixth or seventh day after arrival in Korea.

5. After April 1^st, mandatory quarantine transportation restrictions will be lifted and visitors will be able to use public transportation from the airport to their lodgings.

6. Visitors who are not fully vaccinated will continue to be required to undergo a 7-day quarantine period upon entry to Korea.

*'Fully vaccinated':  Certain exemptions and privileges are available to people with 'fully vaccinated' status. This status is defined as a person who has:

1. Received the single shot of a one-course vaccination regimen, or
2. Received the second shot of a two-course vaccination regimen, and
3. Is within a period of 180 days or fewer following receiving the final shot of the pertaining vaccination regimen.

Travelers with more than 180 days since the single shot of a one-course vaccination regimen or the second shot of a two-course vaccination regimen must receive a third “booster” vaccination and wait 14 days to begin travel to be considered fully vaccinated by the Korean government.

Currently, travelers with three vaccination shots are considered fully vaccinated regardless of how much time has passed since the third (or “booster”) vaccination.

Also, “fully vaccinated” eligibility Korea accepts only vaccinations from a manufacturer that is internationally approved by the WHO (i.e., Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm, Sinovac).