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Editor’s note: Global Atlanta Managing Editor Trevor Williams is traveling in South Korea, reporting on Georgia’s deepening trade and investment ties there. This is the first of many blog posts he plans to file throughout the week. Check here for updates and new entries.
Traveling nowadays is fraught with hurdles wherever you go, so it’s no surprise that I had to surmount a few en route to South Korea, which was dealing with its second largest COVID-19 case spike as I arrived Sunday — an average of more than 100,000 per day in a country of 50 million.
Still, there were multiple reasons to feel safer, at least by COVID metrics, than if I’d stayed behind in the U.S., not least of which are the rigorous testing requirements for anyone wanting to enter the country.
While South Korea has avoided the lockdowns that have plagued other Asian nations, particularly China, it has been lauded for an aggressive response that began in the days when the first outbreak was recorded in Daegu — the Atlanta sister city where I’m heading on the train as I write this.
Because of that early outbreak, innovation sprouted. This was the country that brought you drive-through testing and instituted digital tracking measures using mobile data. The national health system meant that the government could speak with one voice about how to curb the spread. Korea was late to the vaccine party, reliant as it was on manufacturers in the West, but it now has a rate of over 90 percent fully vaccinated, far higher than that of the United States. Everyone is still wearing masks indoors and around people; compliance has been high, with very little politicization and pushback on infection control measures.
All this to say that the hoops I had to jump through were detailed, but also measured and implemented with calm precision.
I first had to conduct a PCR test before leaving the United States, uploading the result to the Q-CODE website to receive a QR code that I would use to skip to the front of the quarantine line upon arrival.
I had also used the Safe2Go system, an online reservation portal, to schedule a test upon arrival and the Incheon International Airport. This was all on top of having to fill out the K-ETA electronic travel authorization form three days in advance of departure; this is a requirement even for foreigners from countries where visas are not required, like the U.S.
I’ve traveled a lot and consider myself to be relatively tech-savvy, but even for me, there were inevitable hiccups, both in terms of tech and coordination. I can imagine someone unaccustomed to international travel and operating without government assistance having a hard time getting through it all. I sure did.
But things went smoothly upon arrival. The Q-CODE enabled me to slide past all who were filling out yellow forms by hand, and I quickly made it through immigration. With a 3:40 p.m. touchdown, I arrived at the Terminal 2 West testing center with time to spare for my 5 p.m appointment.
After 80,000 Korean won (about $60) paid by credit card, I was sent around the corner for a swab by a nurse in a transparent plexiglass box, her arms sticking out through rubbery gloved sleeves. A quick and painless swab, then I was off in a Kia Carnival to self-isolate at the hotel.
My worst fear was that I’d come on a seven-day trip to Korea, only to test positive upon arrival and have to quarantine for — you guessed it — seven full days before my flight back to the U.S. In my head, I steeled myself for the prospect of an exotic (and expensive) writing retreat, but after a few hours being trapped in the hotel room, I realized how hard it would be to be stuck in a box halfway across the world.
Thankfully, in the promised three-hour window, I had my negative result and was out strolling the Seoul streets to beat the jet lag. Outside, the mask quickly came off. I was free to roam about the country.
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For those traveling to Korea, here are some useful links:
- K-ETA – Electronic travel authorization that must be filled out more than 72 hours before departure
- Q-CODE signup
- Safe2Go Pass – For registering for your arrival test at Incheon Airport