China starts nucleic acid testing for all South Korean tourists coming to China? Response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement on the nucleic acid testing of South Korea’s entry may be related to South Korea’s recent adjustment of China’s entry nucleic acid testing policy. South Korea extended the restrictions on short-term visas from China that were supposed to end on January 31 until February 28. In response to South Korea’s move, the Chinese government also made corresponding adjustments to South Korea’s entry nucleic acid testing.

In the past three years of the epidemic, China has been strictly controlling the epidemic prevention and control, and has achieved remarkable results, which is also obvious to all in the world. At the end of last year, based on the reality of the weakening of the domestic epidemic situation, China launched an optimized epidemic prevention policy through research and judgment, opening up domestic and international channels. The South Korean government announced on December 30 last year the nucleic acid testing measures for Chinese personnel entering the country, starting from January 2 and ending on January 31.

It is also understandable for South Korea to consider strict control of the epidemic. However, when the deadline for the restriction expired on January 31, South Korea made a decision to postpone it when the epidemic situation in China was clearly improving. Since South Korea strictly manages the importation of personnel, our country will naturally not lower the standards for entry into South Korea, which is the consideration of the principle of reciprocity. I hope that South Korea can re-evaluate the extension policy and properly resolve the entry issue. The friendly exchanges between China and South Korea are good for everyone.