The Ministry of Justice (Minister Park Beom-gye) announced on the 3rd that the number of applicants reached 15,811 for a month since the introduction of the K-ETA system in September.
The Korea Electronic Travel Authorization Center (K-ETA) is a Korean-style electronic travel permit system that requires users to access electronic travel permit websites or mobile apps in advance to enter personal and travel-related information and obtain travel permits before departure. Considering the Korona 19 situation, the government plans to gradually expand the number of countries to 112 by implementing 49 countries that can enter the country without a visa.
When a foreigner accesses the K-ETA homepage at least 24 hours before departure and applies for a review, the K-ETA system automatically analyzes biometric and regulator information and displays the results. We have to pay a fee worth 10,000 won, and once approved, it is valid for two years, and can be used repeatedly within the period.
Regular passengers who have applied for K-ETA may omit the submission of an entry card and use a dedicated screening window. Important foreign businessmen can also skip the procedure of visiting overseas missions to issue visas.
According to the Ministry of Justice, 15,811 people applied for the operation for one month from September 1, and 15,556 of them were allowed to board. The daily average number of applicants reaches 527.
By nationality of applicants, the U.S. accounted for more than two-thirds of 17,710 (68 percent). France’s 981 (6 percent), Germany’s 952 (6 percent), Britain’s 666 (4 percent), and the Netherlands’ 307 (2 percent).
The number of foreign businessmen who applied for K-ETA is equivalent to 525. They are those who originally entered Korea without visas as “preferential entrants for businessmen and others” from 63 countries whose visa was temporarily suspended, but had to visit overseas missions to issue visas under the Korona 19, which will allow them to skip the procedure through K-ETA and quickly obtain permission to enter the country. By ministry in charge, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy had the largest number with 182 people, with 163 from the Ministry of SMEs and Venture Business, 155 from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, 3 from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and 22 from other ministries.
An official from the Ministry of Justice said, “The convenience of application and fee-payment SIS team are well-run, which has generated about 150 million won in new fees in the first month since its full-scale implementation on September 1. Considering that there were about 824 people who entered the country before Corona 19, about 80 billion won in commission income is expected to be generated annually.”
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