30/07/2026
Enter Korea visa-free through Jeju, and by law, Jeju is all you get — no Seoul, no Busan, nothing past the island. That could be about to change.
On July 18, Jeju’s governor met with the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to request a policy change allowing foreigners who entered under the visa-free (무사증) program to travel beyond Jeju to cities like Seoul and Busan.
Under current law, visa-free entrants to Jeju are restricted to the island. Traveling to the mainland without separate permission is a violation of the Immigration Control Act and can result in penalties.
If the rules are eased, visa-free travelers could explore other regions of Korea on the same entry — and officials expect that to mean longer stays and more tourist spending nationwide.
The proposal frames Jeju as a potential starting point for foreign tourists’ broader Korea trips. For now, this is only a request submitted to the government — whether it’s approved, and what the final rules would look like, is still to be decided.
What do you think of this new development?👇
