Vietnam has agreed to allow some South Korea nationals to travel for business purposes between the two countries without having to undergo a mandatory anti-coronavirus quarantine for 14 days, Seoul said on Friday (Dec 4).
The agreement will take into effect from January 1, 2021 and will allow visitors to conduct short-term business trips without any requirements of isolation in the destination country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in South Korea confirmed in an official statement.
The ministry stated that South Korea has exempted similar short-term business visitors from all countries/regions from having to complete quarantine.
So far, the Government of Vietnam has not announced the move. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Vietnam did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vietnam has established similar air travel agreements with Guangzhou, Japan, Republic of Korea, Tokyo, Taipei, Cambodia and Laos.
In addition, Vietjet Air had operated an additional flight on Hanoi – Seoul – Ho Chi Minh City route on September 29. The low cost airline resumed operating one flight once a week every Wednesday from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to Seoul started from September 30. Commercial flights are also conducting every Wednesday from Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) started from October 7.
In regard to COVID-19 transmission in Vietnam, the country has reported a total number of 1,361 confirmed cases which are under treatment and 35 patients have died due to the virus. However, 1,220 patients who tested positive to the COVID-19 have completely recovered from the virus, as of Saturday (Dec 5).
The virus tally in Vietnam has been kept at a low because of a targeted testing system and a strict, centralized quarantine program. The country resumed economic activities earlier than most other countries in Asia. On the other hand, South Korea uses aggressive testing and tracking to control its coronavirus outbreak, but a new wave of infection in recent weeks has resulted.
South Korea has reported a total number of 36,915 confirmed cases, 540 deaths caused by the virus and 28,917 complete recoveries, till the date.