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My colleague in Tokyo, Justin McCurry, got this update on plans for Japan and South Korea for this week agree to resume business travel between the two countries amid optimism about the slowdown in new Covid-19 infections. Tourism will remain on hold.
Japanese media reported that expats and other long-term residents, as well as travelers on short business trips, will be able to enter one country from the other as long as they test negative for the coronavirus and provide details of their itineraries.
While no date has been announced for the resumption of business travel through the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea, Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga agreed to speed up the talks in a phone call. with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae. -en, late last month, according to the Kyodo news agency.
Japan began imposing travel bans on foreign visitors starting in February that eventually included 159 countries and regions. But recently he relaxed the restrictions on people entering for work and prolonged stays abroad from countries where the rate of new infections is slow.
Participants must undergo a virus test before departure and after arriving in Japan, and self-quarantine for two weeks. They must also appoint a guarantor in Japan who makes sure to follow the rules.
However, tourism through the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea, will continue to be prohibited. More than 5.5 million South Koreans visited Japan last year, including just over 300,000 who were here on business, according to the Japan National Tourism Association.
Japan’s blanket ban on international tourism could be relaxed in time for the postponed summer Olympics in Tokyo, which are due to open on July 23, press reports said this week.
Measures being considered include requiring tourists to download a health check app as soon as they obtain visas in their home countries and to provide proof that they have tested negative for Covid-19 prior to departure.
Those who test negative again upon arrival in Japan could be exempt from two weeks of self-quarantine as long as they use the app to regularly update authorities on their physical condition, Jiji Press reported.
