Should South Korea End Visa Waiver Program for Jeju Island?

With all the recent major crimes being committed on Jeju island some resident want to see the visa waiver program ended to better ensure public safety:

In line with the rise, the number of foreign tourists who commit crimes at one of the country’s most popular tourist sites has also increased.

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency said 347 foreign offenders have been arrested on Jeju as of July. The figure is up by nearly 60 percent from the number tallied in the same period last year, which stood at 218.

Among the 347 foreigners, Chinese nationals accounted for the largest proportion of offenders with 240, or 69.2 percent, followed by Americans with 13.

Reflecting such trends, calls to beef up security by local residents have been rising.

More than 14,500 people have signed a petition filed at a bulletin board of local Internet portal Daum as of Tuesday since it was first proposed on Sunday.

“The country’s precious island of Jeju has turned into a lawless zone with Chinese tourists who enter without visas,” the netizen who first proposed the petition said. “The safety of South Koreans should be given top priority than what can be earned from tourism.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

 

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setnaffa
setnaffa
8 years ago

How many foreigners are there? What percent commit crimes? Are certain ages, genders, ethnicities more likely to commit crimes?

Raw numbers out of context mean nothing.

Redwhitedude
Redwhitedude
8 years ago

Can’t tell whether this is sensationalism or not.

JoeC
JoeC
8 years ago

What added protection would a visa provide? Would there be a requirement for anyone to have a criminal background check before they got a visa?

Tyson
Tyson
Reply to  JoeC
8 years ago

It would at least partially filter out those Chinese who do not economically qualify to enter Jeju and become criminals and illegal immigrants. By your own logic then, why don’t the US give Mexicans, and Chinese, Visa free status?

setnaffa
setnaffa
Reply to  GIKorea
8 years ago

Thanks for the details. It looks like they should end the visa waiver. And maybe just for countries whose citizens commit crimes. But someone might complain that was racist.

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