South Korea Will Require International Students to Undergo Three COVID-19 PCR Tests Upon Arrival

South Korea Will Require International Students to Undergo Three COVID-19 PCR Tests Upon Arrival

International students heading to South Korea will be obliged to undergo three COVID-19 PCR tests upon their arrival, according to a statement from the Ministry of Education (MOE).

In January, MOE notified about its implementation of a protection and management plan for international students for the first semester this year, which states that all international students must undergo three PCR tests before deciding if the latter will be quarantined or not,  Erudera reads.

The first PCR test required must be performed within 72 hours before the students’ departure. Then, upon their arrival, students must present a negative COVID-19 test. Otherwise, they will not be allowed to enter South Korea.

After entering the country, students will be asked to undergo another PCR test at a local screening centre, and lastly, they must perform another PCR test before they are released after 14 days of self-isolation.

In addition,  those individuals who show symptoms during procedures upon arrival, need to undergo another PCR testing at the airport.

In the meantime, the ministry informed that universities would be instructed by MOE in developing international student management regimens and informing local governments about students’ arrival data. The reason for this is to strengthen the disease management measures for international students and quarantine management staff.

Moreover, MOE requires students to enter the country only after they have secured a place to stay, such as a dormitory room or other quarantine facility.

As per students who come from countries where COVID-19 variants have been spotted, including the United Kingdom and South Africa, they will not be allowed to enter the country.

Last year, during the second semester, a total of 30,259 international students had arrived in South Korea, which amounted to 34.1% of 88,609 students who came to South Korea for the first semester of 2020, and only 15.8 per cent of 191,062 who arrived for the second semester of 2019.

From 55,670 international students who came to South Korea between March and December 2020, 165 resulted COVID-19 positive.