China's Absurd Mistake... 31 Korean Residents' Passports Burned

Chinese quarantine hotel, passports collected together for processing mistaken as trash
31 passports reissued, sent in diplomatic pouch arriving soon in Beijing

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] It was belatedly confirmed that 31 passports of Korean residents were incinerated due to negligence by Chinese authorities.

According to diplomatic sources in Beijing on the 19th, among the Korean residents who arrived in Beijing from Incheon on the 4th, 31 people were admitted to a designated hotel quarantine facility. The hotel collected all 31 passports of the Korean residents for check-in and other procedures. Usually, collected passports are disinfected, the front page containing personal information and the visa page are copied, and then the passports are returned.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

When the passports were not returned for several days, the residents requested the hotel to return their passports. The hotel also tried to retrieve the passports to return them but ultimately could not find them. The hotel and Chinese quarantine authorities later confirmed that all Korean passports had been incinerated. The Chinese quarantine authorities explained that the 31 passports were placed in an envelope, which a hotel employee mistakenly thought was trash and disposed of entirely.

Upon learning the news, the Korean Embassy in China immediately protested to the Chinese side, and the Chinese side reportedly expressed apologies.

As a gesture of apology, the Chinese side reportedly informed the Korean Embassy that they would cover the full cost of the three-week quarantine and issue visas free of charge. The quarantine cost per person is said to be about 1.5 million Korean won.

The Korean Embassy in China also decided to reissue passports for the 31 Korean residents before the three-week quarantine ends and sent their personal information, including fingerprints, to Korea.

The passports of the 31 Korean residents have already been reissued in Korea and will soon arrive in Beijing in diplomatic pouches.

An official from the Korean Embassy said, "The passports of the 31 Korean residents will soon arrive in Beijing," adding, "Since the Chinese side has agreed to reissue visas immediately, the new passports will be delivered to the residents before the quarantine ends."

The official also commented on the possibility of passport theft rather than incineration, saying, "All Republic of Korea passports are electronic passports, so there is no possibility of misuse," and added that it seems to be a simple mistake by the hotel.

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