"Don't Travel to Korea" Sparks Backlash, Ministry of Justice Rushes to Clarify "Not Discrimination Against Thailand"

Illegal Thai Immigrants in Korea Triple Over 8 Years

As immigration inspections for Thai nationals entering the country have become stricter, complaints from Thai tourists are growing, with the Ministry of Justice explaining that this is a "measure to prevent illegal stay."

On the 3rd, Lee Jae-yoo, head of the Immigration and Foreign Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, stated at a briefing, "The rate of entry refusals has decreased compared to before. If it was 7% in the past, it is now around 4%."

Last week, the hashtag "#KoreaVisitBan" ranked first in searches on X (formerly Twitter) in Thailand, reflecting the intense anger of Thais toward Korea.

Stories rapidly spread on social networking services (SNS) about people who arrived in Korea with excitement but were denied entry during immigration inspection.

There were numerous accounts such as, "I saved money for five years to travel, but was denied entry because I had too much money compared to my salary," and "At the immigration office, I was asked, 'You've visited Korea four times for tourism; isn't that enough yet?'"

The Thai government also stepped in. On the 31st of last month, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced, "The government will investigate the ongoing issue of Thai nationals being deported by Korean immigration offices," signaling that authorities would take action.

In response, the Ministry of Justice moved quickly to contain the situation. The Ministry stated, "We have not strengthened inspections targeting any specific country," explaining that there is no discrimination against Thailand. However, they added that "(immigration inspections) are measures to prevent illegal stay."

According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of illegal Thai residents was around 52,000 in 2015 but increased threefold to 157,000 as of September this year. Compared to 64,000 illegal Chinese residents, the number of Thais is about 2.5 times higher.

Lee Jae-yoo, head of the Immigration and Foreign Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, said, "It may be understood that entry refusals are being increased to reduce illegal stay." He also explained, "As the number of illegal foreign residents increases, drug distribution is also believed to be increasing," and added, "I think it is necessary to reduce illegal residents to a manageable level."

Last year, 180,000 Thai tourists visited Korea, ranking sixth among all foreign tourists.

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