Republic of Korea passport

Republic of Korea passports are issued to citizens of South Korea to facilitate international travel. Like any other passports, they serve as proof for passport holders' personal information, such as nationality and date of birth. However, South Korean passports also indicate the holder's resident registration numbers. Republic of Korea passports are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Types

Ordinary passport : Issued to normal citizens. Ordinary passports are issued for one, five, and ten years of validity.
Official passport : Issued to members of the National Assembly and public servants.
Diplomacy passport : Issued to diplomats for public purposes.

Physical appearance

South Korean passports have the Korean Coat of Arms (bottom right) inscribed in the center of the front cover, with the Korean word "Daehanminguk Yeokwon" (대한민국 여권) inscribed above and its English translation "REPUBLIC OF KOREA PASSPORT" below the coat of arms. Ordinary passports valid for five or ten years are in dark green.

Identity information page

* Photo of passport holder
* Type (PM or PS)
* Issuing country code (KOR)
* Passport number (Passport Number is 9 dights. 2 Dights are Issued Local code, 7 Dights are Serial Number) [From newly issued passports from August 25th 2008, it has same 9 dights but Issued Local code is changed to Single dight. Rest 8 dights are serial number.]
* Surname
* Given names
* Nationality
* Date of birth
* Date of issue
* Date of expiry
* Sex
* Personal number "(Resident registration number of South Korea)"
* Issuing authority (Ministry of foreign Affairs and Trade)
* Korean(Hangeul) name

Passport note

The note inside of Republic of Korea passports is from the foreign minister of Korea:

In Korean:::"대한민국 국민인 이 여권 소지인이 아무 지장 없이 통행할수 있도록 하여 주시고 필요한 모든 편의 및 보호를 베풀어 주실 것을 관계자 여러분께 요청합니다."

In English:::"The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea hereby requests all those whom it may concern to permit the bearer, to pass freely without delay or hindrance, in case of need, to afford him(her) every possible assistance and protection."

Languages

The textual portions of passports is printed in both English and Korean.

Inter-Korea travel

Exiting from the region under South Korea's administration directly to the North is not international travel from the South's point of view. The Republic of Korea's constitution considers the North as part of its territory, although under different administration. In other words, the South does not view going to and from the North as breaking the continuity of a person's stay, as long as the traveller does not land on a third territory.

However, because of the political friction between the South and the North, and also the isolated Communist government of North Korea, it is difficult to enter North Korea from the South Korean side. Tourists wishing to enter North Korea (for example, to tour Baekdu Mountain), almost always enter from the China side.

However, visa-free travel to Mountain Geumgang and Gaeseong city is now possible. Although, those who wish to travel across the border should bring special travel certificate issued by Ministry of Unification or the travel agency(Hyundai-Asan Corporation)for their trip.

U.S. travel

For South Korean passport holders, a U.S. visa is required to enter the United States of America. However, the U.S. Congress recently passed the Secure Travel and Counter-Terrorism Partnership Act, directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a pilot program to expand the visa waiver program for up to five new countries that are cooperating with the US on security and counter-terrorism matters. This new act changes the non immigrant visa refusal rate threshold - from 3% - to 10%, thus making South Korea along with 12 countries qualify for inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program.

South Korea's refusal rate was 3.6% in 2006 [http://travel.state.gov/pdf/FY06.pdf] and 4.4% in 2007 [http://travel.state.gov/pdf/FY07.pdf] , both higher than the 3% requirement. The passport is required to change into a biometric one in order the participate in the VWP program.

South Korean citizens may join the US Visa Waiver Program in late 2008 and thus would be able to visit United States visa-free for 3 months. [ [http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/04/205_21961.html Koreans Can Visit US Visa Free From Dec ] ] However, an exact date for the implementation of the agreement has not yet been set. [ [http://seoul.usembassy.gov/non-immigrant_visas.html Non-Immigrant Visas - U.S. Embassy Seoul, Korea ] ]

See also

[http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/reciprocity/reciprocity_3599.html Korea, South Reciprocity Schedule, USA]

Biometric Passport

Korean government is now issuing biometric passport since February starts from passport for diplomats and government officers, and it has widened to entire passport from August 25th, 2008.

Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has formed the 'Committee for promoting e-passports' in April 2006, and it will be scheduled to issue biometric passports in the second half of 2008. On September 4, 2007, the media reported that the Korean government decided to revise its passport law to issue biometric passports which include fingerprint information, first to the diplomats in the first quarter of 2008, and the rest of the public in the second half of the year. For some civil liberties groups, there has some controversy over the fingerprinting requirement because the ICAO only requires a photograph be recorded on the chip.

On February 26, 2008, Korean National Assembly passed the revision of passport law. A new biometric passport will be issued to diplomats in March, and to the general public shortly after. Fingerprinting measures will not be implemented immediately; however, they are scheduled to begin at January 1st of 2010.

Appearance of new biometric passport is almost identical to former machine readable version and number of pages are same as 48. However, spaces for visas are reduced as 6 pages which are reserved for identication pages and notice and information, bearer's contacts. Identification pages moved to second pages from inside the front cover, Note is still located in first page, so the note will be shown at first when open a passport. Signature is still be shown at next page of identification page.

Inside backcover, it has caution is written both in Korean,

"주의 - 이 여권에는 민감한 전자칩이 내장되어 있습니다. 접거나 구멍을 뚫는 행위 또는 극한 환경(온도,습도)에의 노출로 여권이 손상될 수 있으니 취급에 주의하여 주시기 바랍니다."

and in English,

"This passport contains sensitive electronics, For best performance please do not bend, perforate or expose to extreme temperatures or excess moisture."

Bearer's contacts information orignally held inside backcover moved to last page.

In this type of passport, passport number is perforated through page 3 from backcover.

Visa-free access for South Korean passport

According to a study done by Henley & Partners, South Korea has a Henley Visa Restrictions Index of 115, which means that South Korean citizens enjoy visa-free access to 115 countries and territories, including European countries, most of Latin American countries, some of Southeast Asian countries, Canada, and Japan.

Americas

Europe

Restricted nations

As a result from South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan in July, 2007, the South Korean government has banned Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia as travel destinations for safety.

ee also

*Biometric passports
*List of passports
*Visa waiver program
*South Korean nationality law

References

External links

* [http://welcome-korea.org/case.html Visa Waiver Program for Koreans]