An agreement was signed on November 13, 2013, between Russia and South Korea, which allows people of both the countries to travel between the countries with no visa. This system enables people to travel in these countries for medical purposes up to 90 days, without any visa. This has been resulted in an enormous growth of tourist traffic between Russia and South Korea.
As per statistics, this growth has increased from 30 to 60 percent in less than first quarter of this year. According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry representative, this implementation program diminishes the cost as well as the time of people of both the countries. This growth also affected the medical tourism sector by increasing the number of medical tourists to these destinations.
Earlier, patients have to wait for a long time while applying for medical visa. It was expensive as well as time-consuming process. It requires a number of documents and legal formalities, which was a very long procedure. Now, people do not have to worry about these procedures and can avail for their desired medical treatment in both the countries.
According to a report, in 2014, around 25,000 South Korean tourists visited Russia, which was almost 61percent more than previous year. In the same time, around 36,000 Russian visited South Korea, which was more than previous year.
The main aim of this agreement was to strengthen the political bond between these two nations. Rising competition in medical tourism sector, have given an opportunity to countries like India, China, Thailand, Singapore, and Japan to increase its source of income from this sector. On the other hand, it also forced various countries to change their policies in order to get proper utilization of their resources and boost the level of their services in medical tourism.
It was a brilliant move of Russia and South Korea towards improving the number of medical tourists in their countries, and increases the amount they get from medical tourists. As per this regime, medical tourists from Russia can stay in South Korea up to 60 days without any visa. It is only for medical tourists, as people who come to Russia and South Korea for work or study are not excused from obtaining visas and other legal permissions.
Summary
In order to make strong political relationships between Russia and South Korea, both countries have signed an agreement. This enables medical tourists of Russia and South Korea to live in each other’s country for 90 days without any visa.
