Reviewing the Abolition of 'Pre-Entry COVID-19 Testing'... "Post-Entry Management Should Be Strengthened"

Controversy Over Burden of Testing Costs and Low Effectiveness
Decision and Announcement This Week... 'Likely Applied After Chuseok'

On the 11th, passengers are waiting for testing at the COVID-19 departure-only testing center at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The government has decided to abolish the pre-entry COVID-19 test requirement for people entering Korea from overseas.

A quarantine official said on the 28th, "We are comprehensively considering the impact of abolishing the pre-entry test on domestic quarantine," and added, "We plan to hold consultations with experts and related ministries this week (August 29 to September 2)." The authorities explained that the timing for abolishing the pre-entry test will be determined by considering the COVID-19 resurgence situation and the scale of imported cases.

Currently, all entrants to Korea must submit a negative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test result taken within 48 hours before entry or a negative professional rapid antigen test (RAT) result within 24 hours before entry, and additionally receive a PCR test result within one day after entry.

However, as some countries conduct PCR tests before boarding flights inadequately or demand excessive testing fees from Koreans who need negative certificates, the tourism and travel industries have continuously called for the abolition of the pre-entry test. There have also been criticisms that the short time interval between pre- and post-entry tests reduces their effectiveness.

Among the 38 OECD countries, only Korea and Japan currently require pre-entry tests, and Japan has decided not to require pre-entry tests for those who have received three or more vaccine doses starting from the 7th of next month.

Accordingly, the Korean government is reviewing the abolition of the pre-entry COVID-19 test for people entering Korea from overseas and plans to reach a conclusion soon after going through procedures such as the Quarantine Management Committee. Although there were suggestions to abolish pre-entry tests first for countries with short flight times such as China and Japan, it was decided to apply the policy uniformly to all countries due to concerns about ambiguous criteria and potential confusion.

Professor Eom Jung-sik of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Center explained, "As the number of confirmed cases overseas is decreasing, COVID-19 testing for all entrants is becoming less meaningful," and added, "It is necessary to strengthen post-entry management by allowing symptomatic or febrile individuals to be tested on-site upon entry and monitoring for two weeks after entry to manage variant viruses."

However, since the resurgence has not completely subsided and imported cases remain at a high level, there is a possibility that some restrictions may be imposed on unvaccinated individuals. There is also an opinion that the appropriate timing for implementation would be after the Chuseok holiday from September 9 to 12, when overseas travel surges.

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