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Vietnamese travelers arrive at Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province on Oct. 14, one day after Fly Gangwon, a low-cost Korean air carrier, launched its Yangyang-Hanoi route. Yonhap

By Lee Hae-rin

Around 100 Vietnamese nationals who entered Korea as tourists via Yangyang International Airport have fallen out of contact, raising suspicions at the immigration service that they could attempt to overstay their authorized period of stay to work illegally here. Under the current regional visa-free entry system, they are authorized to stay for 15 days.

According to the Vietnamese newspaper, VN Express, Le Thi Thu Hang, the spokesperson for Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced Tuesday that around 100 Vietnamese tourists have gone "missing" in Korea.

Vietnamese nationals, as well as those from the Philippines and Indonesia, have been able to enter Gangwon Province visa-free for a maximum of 15 days as part of a group tour by a state-designated travel agency since June this year. Mongolian travelers were also included in the visa-free entry program earlier this month.

Yangyang Airport's visa-free entry system was set up in June in response to a proposal by the Gangwon Province government to the Ministry of Justice arguing that the program would stimulate the local economy ahead of the Gangwon World Forest Expo in 2023 and the Gangneung Youth Winter Olympics in 2024.

The Vietnamese travel agency responsible for group tours has suspended bringing tourists to Yangyang. A company spokesperson said that the Vietnamese Embassy in Seoul is in touch with the Korean government to cooperate in searching for those missing and deploy protective measures to prevent them from staying illegally in Korea.

Korean low-cost carrier Fly Gangwon also decided to suspend flights to Vietnam to prevent unauthorized departures for the rest of the month, as announced through the airline's website. The airline made a total of 18 regular flights and six chartered flights in the two weeks since Oct. 14 when it launched the air routes connecting Yangyang to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The missing tourists are suspected of attempting to remain beyond their authorized period of stay in order to work in Korea. Over 100 Thai tourists, who entered Jeju Island last month under a similar regional 30-day visa waiver program, have been caught working illegally or attempting to enter other parts of the country.

Group tourists who enter Yangyang via the regional visa-free entry program must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and enter through a designated travel agency, before being allowed to travel in Gangwon Province and the Seoul capital area under the guidance of the tour agency for a maximum of 15 days. The visa-free entry program is a trial program operating through May 31, 2023, which could be extended by year, depending on how its results are evaluated.