Effective June 1, Fully vaccinated Filipinos can enjoy Seoul with visa-free entry as announced by the South Korean Embassy in Manila. The only condition is they travel in Gangwon Province and Seoul Metropolitan Area and pre-arranged their tour with one of eight designated travel agencies. They should also fly in and out of Korea via Yangyang International Airport on the same flight as their group.

The Philippines is one of four Asian countries who were granted this privilege of being able to stay for 15 days visa-free in Korea. This is in addition to Jeju Island which is also resuming its visa-free entry status which allows stay for up to 30 days, provided they fly directly to the island.

Gangwon Province is currently being promoted by the South Korean government as it is home to several national parks.

Seoul Metropolitan area also boasts of a lot of attractions including Lotte Tower which is the fifth tallest building in the world. It is also rich in culture and history as well as a top food and shopping destination in Asia.

South Korea announced on its Facebook page that they hope that the visa-free entry will promote people-to-people exchanges between Korea and the Philippines via tourism.

South Korea is among the top tourists of the Philippines pre-pandemic. It is slowly regaining that title back in the new normal with the Philippines re-opening last March to International travel.