South Korea on Monday began expanding access to its automated immigration clearance gates to travelers from the European Union, Schengen member states and Canada in a move aimed at simplifying entry procedures and boosting tourism.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the list of countries eligible for using Korea’s automated immigration clearance gates has been expanded to 42 from the previous list of 18.
The expanded list now includes 19 EU members – Greece, Denmark, Latvia, Romania, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, Belgium, Bulgaria, Sweden, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ireland, Estonia, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus and Poland – as well as Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Iceland, four non-EU members of the Schengen Agreement, and Canada.
Previously eligible countries are Germany, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Australia and New Zealand.
The Ministry of Justice said the decision to include EU and Schengen countries reflects the possibility of reciprocal arrangements allowing Korean citizens to use automated immigration systems in those countries. It added that Canada was also included in consideration of the simplified kiosk-based entry procedures already available to Korean travelers entering the country.
