FKI "Businesspeople face difficulties in corporate activities... Request to resume mutual visa issuance"

Request to Shorten Self-Quarantine Period and Increase Flights
Domestic and Foreign-Invested Companies Submit Proposals for Improving Immigration Procedures

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) has requested the government to ease entry and exit restrictions for domestic businesspeople and foreign-invested businesspeople amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They argue that some procedures should be improved, such as resuming mutual visa issuance and shortening self-quarantine periods, to revitalize the weakened global business environment.

On the 30th, the FKI announced that it submitted a proposal titled "Improvement Measures for Entry and Exit Procedures for Domestic Businesspeople, Foreign-Invested Businesspeople, and Foreign Diplomatic Corps in Korea Related to COVID-19" to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the Ministry of Justice, and other relevant government departments.

The FKI stated, "Except for the fast track for Korean-Chinese businesspeople and entry exceptions for 16 countries, normal overseas business trips for discovering new overseas business opportunities have been blocked for nearly four months." They explained that except for some cases such as special purposes for contract investment and permanent residents, it is difficult for businesspeople to engage in overseas activities.

In their policy proposal, the FKI requested measures targeting internationally recognized low-risk and medium-low-risk countries for COVID-19, including ▲resuming mutual visa issuance for businesspeople and international students and increasing flights ▲shortening self-quarantine periods ▲actively reflecting the opinions of incoming businesspeople during self-quarantine exemption reviews ▲expanding dedicated COVID-19 testing infrastructure for domestic and foreign businesspeople.

Countries such as Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore have been verified internationally as low-risk and medium-low-risk countries. The FKI requested that the government actively negotiate with the respective governments of these verified major trade and investment partner countries to resume mutual visa issuance.

The FKI added, "The European Union lifted entry restrictions for 13 countries including Korea, China, Japan, and Australia from the 1st of this month," and noted, "The EU's criteria for selecting target countries, which is a COVID-19 infection rate of fewer than 19 cases per 100,000 people, is worth referencing." They also requested easing measures such as suspending the 'visa waiver agreement' for businesspeople from countries with good COVID-19 management that have a high trade volume with Korea.

They proposed shortening the quarantine period for businesspeople to the level of Taiwan. Taiwan conducts COVID-19 tests starting from the 5th day of quarantine for arrivals from low-risk countries instead of the previous 14-day self-quarantine, and from the 7th day for arrivals from medium-risk countries, lifting self-quarantine upon a negative test result.

The FKI explained that the opinions of incoming businesspeople should be actively reflected during self-quarantine exemption reviews, considering the purpose and urgency of the visit and the impact of quarantine on domestic companies, and that expanding testing infrastructure at airports is necessary in preparation for an increase in businesspeople entering and exiting the country.

Kim Bong-man, Director of International Cooperation at the FKI, said, "Major foreign-invested businesspeople with domestic offices and ambassadors in Korea are expressing difficulties with measures such as the 14-day self-quarantine," adding, "Since Korea is recognized internationally as a low-risk country for COVID-19, we hope the government will ease entry and exit procedures not only for Korean businesspeople but also for foreign-invested businesspeople in Korea within the scope that does not hinder quarantine efforts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.