[Source: Reuters]

South Korea will not require travellers from China to test for COVID-19 after arrival starting next month, although they will still need to take pre-departure tests.

This was confirmed by a senior South Korean official today, in the country’s latest relaxing of rules that were put in place after China’s reopening.

South Korea had imposed a number of border measures on passengers from China after Beijing’s decision to lift stringent zero-COVID policies, but has been easing some of them citing an improved COVID situation in its neighbour.

“Additional easing of quarantine measures appear possible as the positive rate among arrivals from China has dropped from 18.4% in the first week of January to 0.6% in the third week of February,” Kim Sung-ho, a vice ministerial official at the Ministry of Interior and Safety, said during a meeting on responses to the COVID pandemic.

Mandatory PCR tests before departure for passengers from China will remain in place until March 10, Kim said, to monitor and evaluate the impact of the relaxation of other COVID rules.