The signing of the mutual visa exemption of the State of Qatar and the Republic of Korea for passports holders of both countries “will mark a meaningful milestone for our solid bilateral relations.”
This was said by Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Qatar, H E Joon-ho Lee in a press conference yesterday. Passport holders of Qatar and South Korea can either enter the other country visa-free for up to 90 days.
The agreement was signed in South Korea yesterday by Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and South Korea’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Park Jin.
The Visa Waiver Agreement aims to ensure visa-free entry and short stays for up to 90 days to the other country, and it will enter into force 30 days after the date of its signature.
H E Lee said: “I expect that it will certainly increase the level of people-to-people exchanges between our two countries. Indeed, as the World Cup is getting closer, a lot of Korean football fans are showing greater interest in Qatar, and it will make it more convenient for Korean nationals who want to explore and visit Qatar before and after the World Cup.”The Korean Embassy in Qatar estimates over a thousand Korean football fans to visit Qatar during the World Cup tournament.
Moreover, the Ambassador said that the new agreement will facilitate Qataris travel to Korea not only for business but also for tourism.“There is great enthusiasm in Qatar towards Korean cultural contents, especially K-pop and K-dramas.”
He reiterated that the new agreement aims to ensure a visa-free entry for both Koreans and Qataris to the other country, and short stays for up to 90 days in the other country.
“The only thing visitors need to do before travel is to obtain a travel authorisation, K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorization) by providing personal and travel related information through the K-ETA website or mobile app in advance,” he explained.
The Ambassador said the Visa Waiver Agreement will further strengthen the economic ties of Qatar and South Korea. “Our two countries have developed mutually beneficial economic partnership since we established diplomatic ties in 1974. Qatar, the largest supplier of LNG to Korea, has been stably supplying LNG to Korea for the last 20 years. Korea is one of the major trading partners of Qatar as well. The sheer volume of trade between our two countries, which recorded US12 billion in 2021, shows our strong economic relations very well.”
Also with the new agreement, the Ambassador is hopeful that the number of Qatari tourists going to South Korea will increase. According to their data, the number of Qatari visitors increased up to more than 100 in June. “It will certainly further increase the number of Qatari tourists and the level of people-to-people exchanges between our two countries will grow remarkably as the COVID-19 situation improves.”
According to the embassy, 1,800 to 2,000 Qatari tourists had visited Korea every year pre-COVID-19, and the number increased twofold in 2022 as a result of resumption of Korea’s visa-free entry scheme for Qataris since last April. Meanwhile, over 13,000 Koreans visited Qatar in 2019, and during COVID-19, the number of Korean tourists was 4,000 to 5,000. The Ambassador is confident that once the agreement enters into force, the number of Korean visitors to Qatar will “sharply increase.”
South Korea and Qatar are also “working closely to diversify fields of our cooperation,” said Lee. Among the areas are: smart city, information and communications technology (ICT), agriculture, healthcare, education and climate change. “Qatari investors can find attractive investment opportunities in areas related to green energy and ICT in Korea. With new economic cooperation opportunities, I hope to see more Qatari investments in Korea and vice versa in the near future.”