![This is Lotte Duty Free in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Photo = Yonhap News]](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/rcv.YNA.20250907.PYH2025090706990001300_P1.jpg)
사진 확대 This is Lotte Duty Free in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Photo = Yonhap News]
While the South Korean government has decided to implement visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists with more than three people from the 29th ahead of China’s biggest holiday (October 1-8), Chinese state media stressed that South Korea needs to solve problems such as payment inconvenience.
According to Yonhap News on the 22nd, the Global Times, China’s state-run English-language media, said in a commentary, “The experiences of Chinese tourists visiting Korea include inconveniences, including payments, language barriers, and cultural adaptation.”
“If these problems reappear during the National Day holiday, which is the peak travel season, they can directly affect the satisfaction of visitors and undermine the goodwill brought by the policy,” he said.
“The success of the visa waiver depends not only on attracting tourists but also on deepening industrial cooperation between the two countries,” the commentary said. “The key area is the improvement of cross-border payment convenience, and China and South Korea have a foundation for cooperation in this field, but they are still willing to improve.”
He added that as Korean cultural products are popular in China, they can develop themed tours to famous film and drama filming locations or cultural places.
The government will implement a temporary visa-free policy for Chinese group tourists from the 29th. China has allowed Korean travelers to enter China without a visa since November last year.