China halts short-term visas in South Korea in first response to COVID curbs

The Chinese embassy in South Korea has suspended issuing short-term visas for South Korean visitors, it said on Tuesday, the first retaliatory move against nations imposing COVID-19 curbs on travellers from China.

The embassy will adjust the policy subject to the lifting of South Korea’s “discriminatory entry restrictions” against China, it said on its official WeChat account.

A Chinese embassy official confirmed the new measures.

The announcement comes a day after Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed concern about the restrictions in a telephone call with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin, according to China’s foreign ministry.

South Korea’s Park told Qin the new border restrictions were “science-based” measures, according to his office.

Last week, South Korean police tracked down a Chinese man who went missing while awaiting quarantine after having tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival.

The incident raised concern about the spread of the virus from China after Beijing abruptly abandoned its tough “zero-COVID” policy and opened its borders despite widespread domestic infections.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Monday the country’s border measures should focus strictly on the safety of its citizens.

Thomson Reuters

https://japantoday.com/category/world/china-halts-short-term-visas-in-south-korea-first-response-to-covid-curbs

- Any text modified or added by CorruptionLedger is highlighted in blue.

- [...] These characters indicate content was shortened. This is used for removing unnecessary/biased/flowery language. Example: The oppressive government imposed a curfew becomes: The [...] government imposed a curfew.