August 7, 2025
SEOUL – South Korea will allow visa-free entry of Chinese tour groups for a limited time, starting Sept. 29, the government announced Wednesday. The visa exemption will remain in effect until June 30, 2026.
“Given the rapid recovery of the inbound tourism market, the implementation of this visa-free policy is expected to generate additional demand for travel to Korea, thereby contributing to regional economic revitalization and providing a tangible boost to domestic consumption,” the government said in a statement Wednesday.
This also serves as a reciprocal gesture following China’s waiver of visa requirements for Korean nationals since Nov. 8, 2024. That exemption runs through the end of this year.
This is the first time South Korea will allow visa-free entry to Chinese travelers arriving as part of tour groups, regardless of their point of entry. Previously, only Jeju Island offered such access, permitting group visitors visa-free stays of up to 30 days. A similar, limited exemption was granted during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics for groups entering via Yangyang Airport in Gangwon Province.
Tourism officials expect the new visa policy to deliver a significant economic boost. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, 8.83 million overseas tourists visited Korea in the first half of 2025 — a 14.6 percent increase from the same period last year and already exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Of those, Chinese visitors made up the largest group, accounting for 2.53 million arrivals.
The government has set the ambitious target of drawing 5.36 million Chinese tourists this year, approaching the 6.02 million recorded in 2019 before the pandemic disrupted international travel.
The Bank of Korea estimates that an increase of 1 million Chinese group tourists could raise the gross domestic product by up to 0.08 percentage point. A separate study by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute found that the resumption of Chinese group tours in 2023 contributed a 0.21 percentage point boost to GDP.
The visa exemption is one of three regulatory reform proposals aimed at boosting the tourism sector that were announced Wednesday by the Presidential National Policy Planning Committee. The other two proposals aim to streamline entry for key visitor groups.
One proposes lowering the threshold for fast-track immigration access to international conference participants, enhancing Korea’s appeal as a global MICE destination. MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, and refers to an area of tourism involving business and large-scale events.
The other proposal seeks to revise the criteria for “outstanding medical tourism agencies” by allowing non-hospital entities with 500 or more foreign patient referrals to qualify for electronic visa benefits.