Preamble
The venue, the IBS Science Culture Center, is subject to the social distancing level set by City of Daejeon.If the level is between 1 and 3, the venue can serve up to 49 people including event organizers.If the level reaches 4, we have to close the venue and proceed as a 100% virtual conference.
- The size of the audience in the venue, the IBS Science Culture Center, is subject to the social distancing rules set by the South Korean Government.
- Currently, the audience size is limited to 49 people.
- The South Korean government modified the social distancing frame at the end of October, and will change it again after six weeks.
- Please note that the content of this page may be changed upon the decision of the South Korean government.
- To get the quarantine exemption upon entry to South Korea, LOC has to submit exemption applications to the South Korean government. Please note that the standard to grant the permission by Ministry of Education is pretty strict. MOE requires the purpose of the travel is essential and it is urgently needed. If a participant still wants to try to get the permission, LOC plans to initiate the process during October. More details are explained below.
Visa
- Citizens from the following countries can apply K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorization) directly for short term visits. The K-ETA should be filed at least 24 hours before the departure to South Korea.
- The full country list including the allowed stay period information is at https://www.k-eta.go.kr/portal/guide/viewetaalification.do.
- As of September 29, 2021, the list includes Albania, Andorra, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Commonwealth of Dominica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany F.R, Greece, Guyana, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovak, Slovenia, Spain, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Vincent, Sweden, Switzerland, UK-GBR, UK-GBD, UK-GBO, UK-GBP, UK-GBS, USA, and Venezuela.
- The South Korean government had the intention of opening K-ETA to more than 100 countries, but the plan got disrupted due to the Covid pandemic.
- The K-ETA fee is KRW 10,000 (~ USD 8).
- If you are not successful in getting K-ETA, you should go through the nominal visa processing channel at Korean ambassies/consulates.
- Video guide (English, French, German, Spanish)
- Citizens from other countries including Australia, Canada, Japan, and and Russia should go through the nominal visa processing channel at the nearest Korean ambassies/consulates to obtain the entry visa. Please consult with them on what kind of documents are needed, how long it takes to process the visa and the cost. These offices decide whether the purpose of the travel is important enough to merit the entry visa. Also email LOC to prepare for the necessary documents.
Quarantine Exemption upon Entry
If a traveler completed vaccinations by a WHO-approved kind, if the traveler is not from a variant circulating country AND the purpose of the travel is regarded as essential and urgent by the South Korean government, the traveler can apply for quarantine exemption upon entry to South Korea. Please note it is very difficult to get the quarantine exemption.
- WHO-approved vaccine list: BioNTech/Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Covishield, Janssen, Moderna, Sinopharm, and Sinovac.
- Two weeks should have been passed after vaccination completion before entry to South Korea.
- LOC shall process the first stage of the exemption application with Ministry of Education and try to get the permision. Usually, the process takes a week.
- However, the permission standard set by MOE is very high. They may not grant the permission if virtual participation is possible.
- When the permission is granted, the traveler should finish the process at a Korean embassy/consulate at their home country. Please check with the embassy/consulate how long it takes to finish the process. Please note the exemption permission is valid for one month.
- The traveler should test 3 times for Covid right before/after entering South Korea.
- Within 72 hours of departure to Korea, a Korean or English certificate of a negative PCR test result should be obtained, which shall be submitted at the entry desk at a South Korean airport. Please ask LOC on how to prepare the certificate.
- The self-quarantine app should be installed at your phone at the airport when you arrive in South Korea.
- Do the 2nd Covid test at the airport. This means you may have to stay overnight at the airport to get the result.
- When the result is negative, replace the self-quarantine app with the self-diagnose app. By doing this, you have installed two apps at your phone in total.
- Leave to Daejeon.
- At the 6-7th day in South Korea, do the 3rd Covid test. There is a Covid testing facility within the walking distance of the conference venue.
- Please check the regulation of your home country whether you need additional Covid test for the return trip or not.
- About a week before the end of each month, the South Korean government publishes a list of countries where Covid variants are circulating at a high rate.
- The travelers from a country included in the list cannot obtain the quarantine exemption upon entry, even if they are fully vaccinated.
- At the end of October, please consult with a Korean embassy/consulate at your home country or come back to this page to check if your home country is designated as a November 2021 variant region.
- As of October 21st, the variant country list for the month of November 2021 is as follows:
- Angola, Brazil, Djibouti, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uzbekistan.
Quarantine Exemption for Multiple Entries
- Once you enter South Korea with the quarantine exemption and submit the vaccination document at a community health center in person, your vaccination information will be registered in the South Korean system and you can get an automatic quarantine exemption when you visit South Korea next time.
- This process will help frequent visitors to South Korea.
- However, this exemption upon reentry will not help one time visitors such as ACAT participants.
