South Korea to lift post-arrival COVID test requirement for travellers from China

South Korea will not require travellers from China to test for COVID-19 after arrival starting next month, although they will still need to take pre-departure tests, a senior South Korean official said on Wednesday.

"Additional easing of quarantine measures appear possible as the positive rate among arrivals from China has dropped from 18.4 percent in the first week of January to 0.6 percent in the third week of February," Kim Sung-ho, a vice ministerial official at the Ministry of Interior and Safety, said during a meeting on responses to the COVID pandemic.

Mandatory PCR tests before departure for passengers from China will remain in place until March 10, Kim said, to monitor and evaluate the impact of the relaxation of other COVID rules.