China to lift ban on outbound group tours to Korea for first time in 6 yrs

This file photo was taken on May 17. 2017. Chinese tourists line up to buy cosmetics at Shinsegae Duty Free. [Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

China is poised to resume outbound group tours to South Korea, which have been suspended since March 2017 as a retaliation against Seoul for deploying U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

According to multiple sources from the tourism industry and the Embassy of Republic of Korea in China on Wednesday, the Chinese government is expected to announce plans to lift the ban on group travel to Korea as early as this week.

China has sent an official notice to Korea to inform that Koreans will be exempted from the requirements of verifying fingerprints until the end of this year when they seek visas for commercial and tourism purposes as well as for cabin crew stays.

In March 2017, China implemented a suspension of visas for group tour programs to Korea in retaliation against the deployment of the U.S. THAAD on Korean soil.

China did not include Korea in the list of the 20 countries when it resumed its group tours in January after a nationwide lockdown during the pandemic.

In March, China added 40 countries in the second batch of approval, including France and Spain, but Japan and the U.S. were not included.

“This time, China has decided to include almost every country in the list of approved outbound group tour destinations, even the U.S. and Japan,” according to an unnamed official from the tourism industry.

The annual number of Chinese travelers visiting Korea stood at 8 million but the figure dwindled by half after the group tour ban.