Hong Nam-ki "One-Year Temporary Permission for Non-Stop International Tourist Flights... $600 Duty-Free" (Update)

"Discovering 1,000 Non-Face-to-Face Startups in 2025... 9 Trillion Won Financial Support"

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at the "5th Korean New Deal Ministerial Meeting and 20th Central Emergency Economic Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting" held on the 19th at the Government Seoul Office.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced on the 19th, "We will promote the introduction of a new form of tourism called 'non-landing international sightseeing flights' to support the aviation industry affected and to spread a consumption atmosphere."

On the same day, Hong held the 20th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters (Economic Central Headquarters) meeting and the 5th Korean New Deal Ministerial Meeting at the Government Seoul Office and said about the non-landing international sightseeing flights, "We plan to temporarily allow international flights without entry or exit to other countries for one year, exempting passengers from quarantine and diagnostic tests after entry under thorough quarantine and prevention management, and granting the same duty-free benefits as general travelers."

Users of non-landing international sightseeing flights will also be granted traveler duty-free benefits allowing a basic $600, one bottle of alcohol (1ℓ, within $400), 200 cigarettes, and 60ml of perfume.

The government plans to implement measures to strengthen quarantine and prevention, such as prior online ticketing and group check-in, 'social distancing' placement at boarding and disembarking gates, and restrictions on limousine bus use.

Hong said, "We will complete the preparation process by the end of this month through close consultations among related ministries and industries to ensure that non-landing sightseeing flight products by each airline are launched promptly."

Non-landing international sightseeing flights are being prepared by six airlines: Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, Jin Air, T’way Air, and Air Busan.

The meeting also discussed the 'K-Non-face-to-face Global Innovation Venture 100 Project.'

Hong explained, "By 2025, we will discover 1,000 non-face-to-face startups and provide focused support such as research and development (R&D), and separately operate a dedicated loan, guarantee, and investment program worth a total of 9 trillion won for non-face-to-face companies."

He also expressed, "To create domestic demand, we will provide non-face-to-face service vouchers to 160,000 small and medium-sized enterprises by 2021 (totaling 640 billion won), and establish a global venture capital fund worth 200 billion won to actively support overseas investment attraction for non-face-to-face companies."

Regarding the '2021 Economic Policy Direction Preparation Plan,' Hong said, "2021 is a very important time to create a definite economic recovery and rebound, to proactively respond to changes in our economic and social structure through strong promotion of the Korean New Deal, and furthermore, to upgrade our economic growth trajectory itself. We are currently collecting expert and field opinions and discussing among related ministries to support these goals in next year's economic policy direction. The entire economic team is faithfully supplementing the details and plans to announce it in mid-December."

Finally, regarding the recent foreign exchange market, Hong said, "Concerns among our economic agents are growing as the exchange rate continues to decline. Excessive exchange rate fluctuations are never desirable. The government is closely monitoring the current market situation with heightened vigilance and will actively respond at any time to stabilize the market."

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