Love K-everything? It’s just become a little easier for Australians to travel to South Korea after the Asian nation exempted Aussies from needing Korea’s Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA).
From 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2024, Australian and New Zealand passport holders will no longer be required to apply for authorisation when travelling to South Korea.
They will join travellers from 20 other countries (out of 110 visa-free nations) who will also be exempt.
The Korean Government’s Visit Korea Year 2023-2024 initiative, which was created to boost tourism to the country, sparked the move to drop the requirement.
Nationals from countries who are not exempt must continue to obtain the K-ETA at least 72 hours prior to departure to South Korea and be approved ahead of travel. The authorisation costs around 10,000 Korean Won (approximately AU$12) per person.
Meanwhile, individuals from exempt countries who already have K-ETAs will be able to pass through immigration without having to submit an arrival card. Their existing authorisation will be valid until the original expiration date (two years from approval) and they will not be granted refunds.
Other countries temporarily exempted from the K-ETA are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Macao, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, UK and the US.
Check out visitkoreayear.kr for more information on Visit Korea Year 2023-2024.
In December 2022, Qantas launched non-stop Sydney–Seoul flights marking the first direct services to take off between the two cities in almost 15 years.
Currently, more airlines fly from Australia to Korea than to Japan.
