Seoul 7 August : The location of 55 out of the 280 Thai tourists who arrived in South Korea earlier this week at the airport on Jeju, the southernmost Jeju island of Jeju are not known the immigration officials announced on Sunday. Of of 697 Thai nationals who arrived at Jeju International Airport from Bangkok via the direct Jeju Airlines flight between Tuesday and Friday 417 were denied entry and flown home according to the Jeju Immigration Service.
Of the remaining 280 tourists who have visited the country to participate in a 3-day travel program, 55 have walked out of the tour group and disappeared, Yonhap News Agency quoted official as saying.
The immigration office claimed they were trying to determine which countries they were going to.
Officials stated that a large portion of the Thai tourists decided to travel to South Korea through Jeju as they have a history of not being allowed entry to other airports that include the country’s principal entry point, Incheon International Airport.
In the case of 697 tourists of whom 367 of them (or 52.7 percent, previously had been denied admission according to Korea electronic travel authorization (K-ETA) the authorities stated.
They seem to have decided to go to Jeju since they can get into Jeju without the K-ETA procedure.
South Korea currently operates the K-ETA under which residents of 112 countries with visa waivers including Thailand must obtain the ETA online prior to travel.
However the Seoul government has exempted foreign visitors to the Jeju International Airport from the K-ETA in light of the fact that Jeju Island is a popular tourist destination.
The Ministry of Justice earlier said it is pushing for the adoption of K-ETA on Jeju Island.of Jeju as well.
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