S. Korea’s E-Arrival Card Update Removes Taiwan-China Reference: MOFA

Taipei: South Korea has revised its electronic arrival card system, eliminating the reference to Taiwan as a part of China. This change, as noted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), is expected to enhance exchanges between Taiwan and South Korea. According to Focus Taiwan, the previous system listed "Taiwan" as "Taiwan (China)" in the dropdown menu of South Korea's online entry system. This required incoming travelers to fill out electronic arrival cards indicating their origin and next destination. In response, Taiwan's MOFA had requested a change and had considered altering the representation of South Korea in Taiwan's system to "KOREA (SOUTH)" if the issue wasn't addressed by the end of March. The potential retaliatory move by Taiwan was postponed after reports emerged that South Korea's foreign ministry planned to eliminate the "previous departure place" and "next destination" fields from its e-arrival card system. This means travelers would no longer need to specify their origin or next destinat ion. These changes were implemented as of Friday. On the same day, Taiwan's MOFA issued a statement acknowledging South Korea's removal of the specified fields from the e-arrival card system. MOFA expressed respect for South Korea's adjustments, which aim to facilitate travelers and streamline entry procedures. They also expressed hope for further strengthening bilateral relations. According to a previous report by Yonhap News Agency, a South Korean foreign ministry official indicated that the adjustment was intended to simplify entry procedures for all incoming travelers and align the digital form with the paper version, which did not include the "previous departure place" and "next destination" fields. The official clarified that the revision was a technical and administrative measure to facilitate practical, non-official exchanges, rather than a reaction to Taiwan's deadline.