South Korea’s K-ETA now required for Jeju Island arrivals

Travellers planning a trip to Jeju, South Korea’s northernmost territory, will need to request a K-ETA authorisation from 1 September.

Earlier in August, South Korean authorities noted that a large number of foreigners—particularly Thai nationals—were using visa-free entry to Jeju, an island off the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, as a route to overstay illegally. The Directorate General for Immigration and Foreign Affairs under the Ministry of Justice has confirmed it will now require the K-ETA electronic travel authorisation for arrivals at Jeju Airport, where foreign visitors had previously been exempt from visa requirements. Implemented to curb illegal immigration and better regulate international arrivals in the region, the new rule brings Jeju in line with the rest of South Korea.

When the K-ETA programme launched in September 2021, it covered all visa-exempt short-term visitors except those travelling directly and exclusively to Jeju Island. That exclusion is ending: the same electronic travel authorisation process that applies to standard e-visa waivers will now be required for Jeju.

The South Korean Ministry of Justice announced today on its official website that the K-ETA electronic travel authorisation system will become available for Jeju-bound travellers on 1 September, covering passengers not applying for a full Korean visa.

Jeju had been used as a backdoor route by foreign nationals ineligible for the K-ETA since visa-free privileges were reintroduced, the ministry said. It added that the change could wait no longer—despite fears among local tourism professionals that it may dampen visitor numbers.