{"id":42105,"date":"2026-04-06T09:43:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T01:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=42105"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:43:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T01:43:42","slug":"south-korea-eases-chinese-travel-visas-but-southeast-asia-rivals-iran-war-cloud-outlook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=42105","title":{"rendered":"South Korea eases Chinese travel visas but Southeast Asia rivals, Iran war cloud outlook"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/04\/03\/eb8ae846-48dc-4175-8c57-52cae9ce73de_2f1110e3.jpg?itok=SKm3OHaI&amp;v=1775195639\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Repeat short-haul visits by Chinese travellers to South Korea are expected to rise after Seoul eased multiple-entry visa rules, but analysts say the immediate impact may be limited because of growing competition from Southeast Asia and higher airfares linked to the <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">US-Israeli war in Iran<\/span>.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The South Korean embassy in Beijing announced that Chinese nationals who had previously visited South Korea would now be eligible for a five-year multiple-entry visa.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Those holding residency status in 14 major cities \u2013 including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou \u2013 could also apply for 10-year multiple-entry visas, the embassy said this week. In addition, employees of Chinese companies that have invested at least US$1 million in South Korea were also eligible for 10-year multiple-entry visas.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The measures come amid improving bilateral ties, as Beijing and Seoul continue to ease travel barriers. South Korea has granted visa waivers to Chinese tour groups of three or more people since September, while China has allowed visa-free entry for South Koreans since November 2024.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cThe new measure is seen as a driving force that could significantly increase the number of frequent repeat visitors travelling for short weekend trips, K-pop, food and shopping,\u201d said Jang Soo-cheong, a professor of hospitality and tourism management at Purdue University and director of Yanolja Research.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Despite a sharp increase in the <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">number of Chinese travellers to South Korea<\/span> \u2013 reaching about 5.48 million in 2025 \u2013 the repeat-visit rate for Chinese travellers to South Korea remained lower than for some other Asian destinations, according to data from the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">In the fourth quarter of 2025, the rate of Chinese travellers revisiting South Korea stood at 54.3 per cent, lagging behind Japan\u2019s 76.5 per cent and Thailand\u2019s 79.2 per cent. The rate was also down from 57.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/economy\/global-economy\/article\/3348904\/south-korea-eases-chinese-travel-visas-southeast-asia-rivals-iran-war-cloud-outlook?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Repeat short-haul visits by Chinese travellers to South Korea are expected to rise after Seoul eased multiple-entry visa rules, but analysts say the immediate impact&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[5024,107,8294,13764,16621,1644,9325,5347,5246,4875,151,19792,3544],"class_list":["post-42105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-asia","tag-chinese","tag-cloud","tag-eases","tag-iran","tag-korea","tag-outlook","tag-rivals","tag-south","tag-southeast","tag-travel","tag-visas","tag-war","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}