[Opinion] No U.S. Visa Required

Professor Kim Jeong-un of Myongji University is well known for his popular lectures on the rather unconventional subject of leisure management, which is his major. Kim studied in Germany for 13 years, and during his stay, he experienced a lot of frustration with visas. He had to wait in line for hours in front of the German immigration service building at the crack of dawn every two years for a visa renewal. Whenever an interview started, German immigration officials questioned him with a basic idea that he was an illegal immigrant. After waiting for a few hours more for all the documents to be processed, he was finally given a renewed visa, but the sun was already low on the horizon, about to set. Every time he went through this process, he felt sad and frustrated with tears welling up in his eyes. However, Japanese students in Germany did not have to stand in line. They would get in the building right away and get their visa reviewed within just minutes. This is Kim’s real story written in his book, “Going crazy over Japan.”

Probably Kim is not alone in having such unpleasant memories about living or traveling abroad. As Korea’s economic status has enhanced, Koreans are now hardly treated poorly by immigration officers of any countries around the world. However, the U.S. still remains as an “irritating exception,” requiring long, burdensome processes and time. So much so, some go so far as to say, “U.S. visas are promoting anti-Americanism.”

The resolution is a decision by the U.S. to include Korea in its ongoing Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Under the program, a U.S. visa is not required for those who stay in the country for less than 90 days. Currently, the program covers 27 countries around the world, including five Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore. Korea deserves to be included in the program. The number of Koreans visiting the U.S. ranks fifth in the world. Korean tourists spend more than two billion dollars in the U.S. every year. If the U.S. extends its Visa Waiver Program to Korea, the number of Korean visitors to the U.S. is estimated to grow twice, so it will serve U.S. interests more.

So it is welcome news that Korea will be included in the program by around July or August next year. It is a big obstacle standing in the way of bilateral relationship between the two countries and it has been removed. So far, just looking at the long line of Koreans in front of the U.S. embassy to get a visa is enough to make people hesitant to even think about visiting the country. It is reported that many in the U.S. have raised their voices to include Korea in the VWP. Frequent visits and exchanges are a shortcut to deepening the understanding of each other.

Editorialist Hong Chan-sik, chansik@donga.com