The Ministry of Justice on Wednesday denied a recent online rumor that a revision of the skilled worker visa system will permit a mass influx of Chinese nationals on a visa-free basis.
The rumor is tangentially related to the September 2023 revision of the country's E-7-4 visa issued to skilled foreign workers, a key provision of which is an increase of the yearly quota for holders of such visas from 2,000 to 35,000. The online rumor claimed that large-scale visa-free entry of Chinese nationals is slated to begin in April, posting information about the E-7-4 visa, which is unrelated to visa-free entry.
Those who spread the false information said the supposed visa-free entry would lead to an exponential increase in Chinese residents here, and urged others to make complaints by posting the office phone numbers of Justice Ministry officials.
"The E-7-4 visa is usually issued to foreign workers holding E-9 visas (non-professional employment visa) who have lived here for at least four years and have a certain level of Korean language skills. The expansion of the quota from 2,000 to 35,000 is not related to visa-free entry, nor is it restricted to people from a certain country," the ministry said in a press release.
It added that of the 31,869 holders of the E-7-4 visa as of February, only 78 are Chinese nationals.
To transfer from E-9 to E-7-4, an applicant must demonstrate considerable skills in their field, obtain a recommendation from an employer for whom they worked at least one year, and must not have a record of tax evasion or criminal activity resulting in a fine of 1 million won ($685) or more. After getting the E-7-4, the visa holder must work for at least two years at the company from which they received the recommendation.
The policy is intended to enable foreign nationals to work here for a longer period of time, the ministry said.
Visa-free entry to South Korea is permitted to holders of passports from 112 jurisdictions who have been issued the Korea Electronic Travel Authorization or K-ETA. Mainland China is not one of these jurisdictions. Chinese nationals from the mainland can stay here temporarily without a visa if they qualify for the tourist/transit B-2 status, which is for transit stopovers.
Concern has been growing over the spread of anti-China sentiment and malicious rumors in Korea. A far-right online platform recently claimed that 99 Chinese spies have been caught by the South Korean and US militaries for rigging elections here, which United States Forces Korea said was entirely false.
A 42-year-old man dressed up as the Marvel Comics character Captain America was caught last month trying to break into the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, making terror threats against the compound.
Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing voiced his concern over the "destructive" anti-China faction, which has been fueling election interference claims and leading protests. In a meeting with local reporters last month, he said their actions could seriously harm relations between the two countries.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
