From Next Month, Only Fully Vaccinated Individuals Are Exempt from Self-Quarantine When Returning to Visit Parents

On the 28th, overseas arrivals are receiving guidance from quarantine officials at Terminal 1 arrival hall of Incheon International Airport. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Starting next month, even those who have completed vaccination overseas will be exempt from self-quarantine when entering Korea for purposes such as visiting immediate family members.

The government announced on the 29th that it will implement the revised quarantine exemption system from the 1st of next month, in accordance with the "Overseas Vaccination Completion Entry Management System Reform Plan" announced on the 13th of last month.

To receive this quarantine exemption, the reason for entry must meet one of the following: ▲important business purposes ▲academic or public interest purposes ▲humanitarian purposes such as attending funerals or visiting immediate family members ▲official overseas business trip purposes. Additionally, the individual must have completed all recommended doses of vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO)?Pfizer, Janssen, Moderna, AstraZeneca (AZ), Covishield (AZ-Serum Institute of India), Sinopharm, Sinovac?in the same country, and at least two weeks must have passed since the final dose.

However, the government plans to strictly manage the situation to prevent the introduction of COVID-19 variants into the country by requiring a total of three PCR tests (before entry, one day after entry, and six to seven days after entry) even for those who have completed vaccination overseas, along with active monitoring.

On the 28th, overseas arrivals are waiting at the arrival hall of Terminal 1, Incheon International Airport. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Recently, as the spread of variant viruses overseas has become increasingly severe, the government additionally designated four countries?India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines?as variant outbreak countries on this day. Once designated as a variant outbreak country, the issuance of quarantine exemption certificates upon entry, which will be implemented from the 1st of next month, will be restricted.

Previously, on the 17th, 17 countries including South Africa, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Suriname, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina, and Malta were designated as variant outbreak countries.

As a result, among the top five countries from which major variant viruses have been introduced into Korea, all except Hungary have been designated as variant outbreak countries. Notably, Indonesia accounted for 42 cases of Delta variant introductions over the past two weeks, representing 61.8% of the total 68 Delta variant import cases during that period.

The Delta variant is currently occurring in more than 85 countries worldwide, centered on India and the United Kingdom. It is reported to be 1.6 times more transmissible than the Alpha variant and has an approximately 2.26 times higher hospitalization rate. There are also interpretations suggesting it may reduce vaccine efficacy, raising overall concerns that it is more dangerous than the Alpha variant.

Park Young-jun, head of the Epidemiological Investigation Team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, explained at a briefing the previous day, "Indonesia is also known as a country where the Delta variant has been confirmed," and added, "It is necessary to examine the circumstances more closely regarding the recent increase in Delta variant cases among entrants from Indonesia."

The health authorities plan to continuously analyze the risk level, vaccine efficacy, and domestic infection rates related to the Delta variant and discuss whether to add more countries to the variant outbreak list.

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