The visa exemption policy for certain countries (including Vietnam) to Jeollanam-do province is a major loophole in both the local tourism industry and South Korea, according to the Korean Times.
On January 25, the Korean Times reported that the number of stateless foreign nationals leaving Jeju Island and illegally entering the mainland through brokers is steadily increasing.
Under this policy, foreign tourists can visit Jeju Island for up to 30 days without a visa and are not allowed to enter the mainland (which is 83 km away from the island).
According to Jeju Coast Guard, there have been a total of 18 cases in 2024 (including tourists entering the island through the visa exemption system and South Korean brokers) attempting to cross the sea illegally to the mainland.
Among them, 8 individuals were Chinese nationals, 1 was Vietnamese, 5 were Indonesian, and 4 were South Korean brokers. These 4 individuals are accused of facilitating the illegal crossings. A total of 16 suspects have been arrested.
The number of such cases has skyrocketed compared to 2023, when only 2 incidents were reported and 4 individuals were arrested.
It’s not just South Korea facing this issue—Japan also deals with a similar problem after relaxing visa policies for Northeast Asian countries.
According to Japan’s immigration statistics, nearly 150,000 foreign nationals overstayed their visas in 2020. Most of them entered on short-term tourist visas and then overstayed illegally.
According to the Korean Immigration Service, in 2020, South Korea reported approximately 80,000 foreign nationals who remained in the country after their visas expired.
Jeju Island implemented the visa-exemption entry system to promote tourism, allowing tourists from 111 countries to stay for up to 30 days without a visa, with the goal of boosting tourism, as reported by Korean Times.
The program was temporarily suspended in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed in April 2023.
However, authorities have noticed a growing number of cases where individuals have exploited this policy, leaving the island to enter the mainland and engage in illegal activities like working “illegally.”
Many are using ports with less strict checks at airports to avoid detection. Authorities warn that these methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Most recently, on January 16, Jeju Coast Guard discovered 11 Vietnamese nationals (7 men and 4 women) hiding in a 5-ton truck at a local port, waiting for a ferry to transport them to Wando, in South Jeolla province, as reported by Korea Joongang. Authorities suspect that these individuals arrived on the island under the visa-free program.
In early December 2024, 38 out of 80 Vietnamese tourists were found to have failed to board their return flight after visiting Jeju Island under the visa-free program. The group of tourists, who had come from Nha Trang, entered the island on November 14 and disappeared on November 17 at the last tourist site.
These 38 individuals have been considered to have overstayed their visa since December 14, 2024 (the expiration date of their 30-day visa exemption).
However, this is not the first case of illegal immigration. South Korea had previously recorded a similar incident in January 2016 (when the country also implemented a visa exemption policy for Vietnamese nationals), but with a larger number of people involved.
In that case, 59 Vietnamese nationals out of a group of 155 tourists escaped to work illegally in the country after entering on a tourist visa in January 2016.
At the time of their arrest, one of the suspects confessed that they had paid between $8,500 and $12,000 to a broker to take them to Jeju Island and find a way to stay there.
