S.Korea adopts electronic travel authorisation to stave off infectious disease

SEOUL: South Korea is implementing for the first time an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system for overseas visitors from September, as the COVID-19 pandemic forces open the way for a policy previously opposed by the country's tourism industry.

The justice ministry said the system will be a long-term way to pre-emptively head off any contagious disease as well as limit the number of undocumented immigrants, which had risen in the years before the pandemic. Most visa waivers were suspended as the pandemic worsened in April 2020.