Travel ban extended to 8 countries and 6 regions, including Gaza and Myanmar, for 6 months
The highest level of travel ban has been imposed on the so-called ‘Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone’ in northwestern Laos, where employment fraud targeting Koreans is rapidly increasing.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 11th that it has confirmed the results of adjusting travel warning levels for each country through deliberation and resolution at the Passport Use Policy Subcommittee of the 50th Passport Policy Council.
The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone is located on a 100㎢ site along the Mekong River near the Thai border in Bokeo Province, northwest Laos. In this place, Korean citizens who recently got jobs at local companies after seeing job advertisements for Korean interpretation and translation and cryptocurrency sales are forced to participate in crimes such as voice phishing, coin investment fraud, romance scams, and prostitution, and are given employment if they refuse. There are frequent cases of people being detained and assaulted without returning passports taken under the pretext of applying for a visa.
Accordingly, following the issuance of ‘Special Travel Advisory’ on August 1 last year and ‘Travel Alert Level 3 (Recommendation to Departure)’ on November 24, the travel alert was raised to Level 4 (Travel Ban).
The date of the upgrade is from 00:00 a.m. on the 1st of next month in Korean time (10:00 p.m. on January 31, local time).
The travel warning operated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is categorized into ‘Caution against travel (Level 1) – Avoid travel (Level 2) – Recommendation to leave the country (Level 3) – Prohibit travel (Level 4).
When level 4 is issued, travel is prohibited and those currently staying must evacuate or withdraw immediately. If you visit or stay in the area despite the travel ban being issued, you may be punished according to relevant regulations such as the Passport Act.
Separate from the travel warning, a special travel advisory is issued for up to 90 days for short-term urgent risks. This corresponds to level 2.5 of the general travel warning, and travel is canceled or postponed unless it is an emergency, and residents are required to pay special attention to personal safety.
The council also extended the travel ban designation period for eight countries and six regions where travel is prohibited until the 31st by six months to the end of July.
The eight countries are Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and Sudan.
The six regions are ▲Zamboanga Peninsula in the Philippines and the Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi archipelagoes; ▲a 30 km section from the Ukrainian border in Rostov, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, and Bryansk regions in Russia; ▲from the Ukrainian border in Brest and Gomel regions in Belarus 30km section ▲Armenia-Azerbaijan border area (excluding 30km section along the Azerbaijan border, 5km section along the Armenian border, and Artsvashen and Nakhchivan Armenian border areas) ▲Palestinian Gaza Strip ▲Northern and eastern Shan State and Kaya Region of Myanmar.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “As the political situation, security instability, and terrorism risk in the relevant country/region remain and are likely to continue for the time being, we have judged that it is necessary to continue to restrict visits and stays to protect our citizens,” adding, “We will continue to ban these people from traveling in the future.” “We plan to closely monitor changes in local situations in countries and regions,” he said.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.