By Bernama
Seoul : South Korea and the United States will sign a deal on a visa waiver program (VWP) for South Koreans later this month on the sidelines of their summit, but visa-free trips to the U.S. will only be possible from the end of this year, Yonhap news agency quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying on Friday.
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff plan to ink the memorandum of understanding (MOU), which will lay out details on what the two sides should do for Seoul’s new membership in the U.S. VWP, when Yu accompanies President Lee Myung-bak to his summit with U.S. President George W. Bush at Camp David near Washington from April 18-19.
South Korea, as one of the largest sources of foreign students and travellers in the U.S., has long sought to join the VWP, which will enable South Koreans to enter and stay in the U.S. without visas for up to 90 days.
Seoul and Washington aim to strike the VWP agreement, a deal expected to greatly increase the number of South Korean tourists traveling to America, by the end of this year.
“The signing of the MOU will raise the chance for South Korea to join the program,” a ministry official said in a background briefing for reporters.
The two nations also plan to wrap up preparations on legal measures, including ways of sharing information on travellers, by the summer.
South Korea plans to introduce electronic passports for all outbound travellers as early as August, while the U.S. is moving to establish the Electronic System of Travel Authorization, a Internet system to check criminal records of inbound tourists and other information.
“If preparations proceed as planned, South Koreans will be able to make visa-free trips to the U.S. as early as December,” the official said.
The VWP is expected to have an economic effect of at least 100 billion won (US$100 million) on South Korea per annum by slashing visa fees and other costs, he added.
About 360,000 South Koreans applied for short-term U.S. entry visas last year, and almost all of them had face-to-face interviews with American consular officials.
“It will also enhance the people’s convenience and also help cement the alliance with the U.S.,” the official said.
Twenty-seven nations, mostly European countries but including Japan, currently benefit from the program.
The U.S. has not admitted any countries to the VWP since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, as it has tightened security measures against possible terrorism from incoming travellers.
Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Latvia are also seeking to join the program.