Stamped on arrival

TOURISM: South Korea mulls visa-on-arrival for Indian visitors.

The Republic of Korea "" South Korea, that is "" is opening its doors wider to the Indian traveller. It is considering "visa-on-arrival" (VOA) for the Indian citizen.

The country has been expanding trade relations with India, and the increased growth of Indian tourists to Korea has made the country consider the idea.

This, at least, is what the South Korean minister for foreign affairs and trade, Ban-ki Moon, indicated recently in an exchange with the Korean media. Indian business visitors, he said, should be granted easy entry, adding that steps had been already initiated in that direction.

The initial idea was to ease business travel, but the Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO) wanted the privilege to be extended to tourists as well.

"We are strongly lobbying for providing visa-on-arrival to Indians. Korea is also considering VOA to visitors from Japan and China. The three countries are expected to generate maximum inbound tourists to Korea," says Hyo Sik, Jeon, director, KTO.

Right now, an Indian has to wait for at least a week for getting a visa to Korea from Mumbai or Delhi. Over 55,000 Indians visited Korea during 2005, and this year, 20 per cent more are expected to.

"More than 10 per cent of the 55,000 Indians visited to Korea are employees from companies like Hyundai, LG, Samsung and Posco," though, says Hyo Sik, Jeon.

Business ties are indeed strong. Posco is in the process of setting up a 12-million tonne steel plant in the country. The bilateral trade volume between India and Korea have increased to $5.5 billion in 2004 from less than $1 billion in 1991. By 2008, the trade volume between India and South Korea is expected to touch $10 billion.

"VOA will be good for Indian industry, particularly small businessmen who have to take the reference of a major company for easy visa clearance," says Arvind Saxena, vice-president, marketing and sales, Hyundai India.

Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong are among the few countries that have offered VOA to Indian citizens. Malaysia offers VOA to Indians who enter the country from either Thailand or Singapore.