In a March 30 announcement, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said that the plan was originally scheduled to be implemented in July, but because the policy is in line with the government's strategic direction to promote domestic consumption, the authorities decided to push it forward earlier than planned.
The aim of the reduction in procedures is to increase the number of international tourists to South Korea, aiming to welcome 10 million visitors this year, and boost domestic consumption that has been weakened by persistent high inflation.
By easing restrictions on international visitors, the South Korean government aims to attract more foreign tourists and increase spending to stimulate economic momentum without raising prices.
Passengers line up at the check-in counter at Incheon International Airport, South Korea. Photo: yna.co.kr
KCS said the decision was based on statistics showing that 98.8% of the 43.56 million international visitors to Korea in 2019 said they had no taxable goods to declare. In particular, 99.93% of foreign nationals said they had no goods to declare.
KCS said that the reduction of customs declaration procedures has been done by many countries before. The US and many European Union (EU) countries also require international travelers to fill out customs forms only if they have taxable goods. Taxable goods are items valued at over $800, more than two bottles of wine or more than 60 ml of perfume.
From the second half of this year, South Korea will expand the mobile customs declaration system to Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport, Gimhae International Airport, Daegu International Airport, Muan International Airport, Cheongju International Airport and Jeju International Airport. The service is currently only available at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport.
