/ Korea Times file



By Chyung Eun-ju

Visitors from Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines will be allowed to enter South Korea without a visa through Yangyang International Airport until April, as PyeongChang, near the airport, hosts the Winter Olympics in February.

And discounts for electronic visas for Chinese group tourists, which were due to end by December 31, will be extended until 2018, the South Korean government said.

"There will be progress in tourism exchange between South Korea and China through the South Korea-China summit," South Korean finance minister Kim Dong-yeon said at a meeting to discuss tourism revitalization on Friday. "We will open a meeting to strategize tourism and collect the opinions of the tourism industry and institute necessary measures."

The government also will waive the visa requirement for Chinese cruise ship passengers. Tourists from Southeast Asia who have visited other OECD member countries will be allowed to have multiple-entry visas.

Two large cruise ships will dock at east coast port city Sokcho, about 140 kilometers north of the Games host city in Gangwon Province, during the Olympics to provide about 2,200 rooms for tourists.

Tourism packages including a K-pop concert tour, a K-drama locations tour and meetings with K-pop stars also are being developed.

In qualification tests for interpreters for the Olympics, Vietnamese, Thai and Arabian applicants, among other languages, will face less strict standards as South Korea expands the interpretation service for tourists from Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

International travelers who stop over at Incheon International Airport will be able to use the 72-hour transit tour program. This allows them to enter the nation visa-free and stay for 72 hours. More programs for foreigners in transit are under way.

Public transportation improvements are also being made to cater for tourists. The highway rest stop at the SumJin Service Area in South Jeolla Province will introduce a new transit transfer center for travelers across Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces.

The government also will impose fixed-rate taxi fees in designated sectors to prevent foreign passengers being overcharged.