China suspends visas for South Koreans in retaliation

By Associated Press

Jan 9, 2023 11:50 PM CST

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China suspends visas for South Koreans in retaliation — Travelers wearing face masks wait for their luggage in the international arrivals area at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. The first international travelers are arriving in China without the mandatory quarantine that had been imposed at the start of the pandemic... (Associated Press)

BEIJING (AP) — China suspended visas Tuesday for South Koreans to come to the country for tourism or business in apparent retaliation for COVID-19 testing requirements on Chinese travelers.

A brief notice posted online by the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said the ban would apply until South Korea lifted its “discriminatory measures on entrance by China” to the country.

No other details were given, although China has threated to take retaliation against countries that require travelers from China to show a negative test result for COVID-19 taken within the previous 48 hours.

China requires the same measures for travelers coming into the country. Beijing has been accused by the World Health Organization of withholding data on the state of the outbreak in China.