Korea Customs Service Surpasses 100,000 Users for 'Traveler Mobile Baggage Declaration' Service

‘Traveler Customs Declaration’ app screen. Provided by Korea Customs Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The number of users of the "Traveler Mobile Baggage Declaration" system has exceeded 100,000 just three months after its introduction. It is analyzed that the number of arrivals using this system is increasing due to its convenience and expedited customs clearance.

The Korea Customs Service announced on the 8th that the number of travelers entering through the newly introduced "Traveler Mobile Baggage Declaration" system, which has been in operation since August at Incheon Airport and Gimpo Airport, exceeded 100,000 as of the 2nd of this month.

As of last month, the mobile declaration usage rate (for domestic travelers) was 26.6% of all arrivals, nearly five times higher than the 5.8% at the time of its introduction in August.

The monthly number of arrivals using mobile customs declaration was 9,620 in August, 33,309 in September, 55,018 in October, and 2,901 as of the 2nd of November, totaling 100,848 cumulatively.

The Korea Customs Service views the rapid increase in users as a result of the convenience and expedited customs clearance offered by mobile declaration.

Explanation material of major convenience features of the 'Traveler Customs Declaration' app. Provided by the Korea Customs Service.

The introduction of mobile declaration has eliminated the inconvenience of travelers having to fill out paper baggage declaration forms and submit them face-to-face to customs officers. It enables automatic input (storage) of personal information, minimizes declaration items, and provides estimated tax payment amounts, allowing for expedited customs clearance and significantly increasing the usage rate among arrivals.

Additionally, the Korea Customs Service analyzes that strengthening online and offline promotions such as promotional videos, banner advertisements at domestic and international airports (ticket counters), and holding prize draws for mobile declaration users have also contributed to the rise in mobile declaration usage.

Currently, mobile declaration is being implemented at Incheon Airport Terminal 2 and Gimpo Airport. The Korea Customs Service plans to gradually expand the installation of automatic inspection lanes and mobile declaration operations to Incheon Airport Terminal 1 and regional international airports in the future.

In particular, the Korea Customs Service plans to complete the "Traveler Baggage Declaration Digitalization" by the first half of next year, which will allow taxable persons to declare items via mobile, pass through dedicated lanes without inspection, receive automatically calculated tax amounts online, and pay taxes afterward.

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