Petition to ban visa-free entry for Chinese nationals surpasses 20,000 signatures amid Jeju security fears

Amid growing public safety concerns following a series of disappearance cases on Jeju Island, calls are mounting to abolish the island's visa-free entry system, with critics arguing it is vulnerable to criminal exploitation.

According to the National Assembly's electronic petition portal, a petition titled "Urging a ban on visa-free entry for Chinese nationals and stronger immigration screening and crime management for foreigners," posted Aug. 31, had gathered 26,187 signatures as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The petitioner said that as the number of foreign residents in South Korea has grown, so has public concern about crimes committed by foreigners, adding that the number of foreign suspects staying in the country has risen and that Chinese nationals account for a disproportionately high share of crimes involving foreigners.

The petitioner urged the government to scrap the visa-free entry policy for Chinese nationals and tighten immigration screening for all foreign visitors.

"Boosting tourism and economic benefits is important, but it cannot take precedence over the lives and safety of citizens," the petitioner wrote, calling on authorities to eliminate blind spots that make it difficult to verify a person's identity and criminal risk before entry when visa-free access is permitted.

The petitioner also called for an integrated system to track foreigners from entry through their stay, any crimes committed, investigations, departure and re-entry. The petitioner further argued that crime statistics and management frameworks involving foreigners should be made transparently available to the public, with regular disclosures covering not only crime figures by nationality but also crime rates relative to the resident foreign population and data on serious offenses.

A separate petition making similar arguments — titled "Strongly requesting the abolition of the visa-free entry system for Chinese nationals" — was posted Sept. 1 and had already drawn more than 12,000 signatures.

That petitioner wrote that Jeju Island is South Korean territory, yet foreigners — particularly Chinese nationals — rank first in nationwide crime rates, with 85 percent of minor public-order violations on Jeju committed by foreigners, of whom 67 percent are Chinese nationals.

"Jeju Island pursued visa-free entry to attract tourists, but crimes exploiting that policy are surging. Our beautiful island of Jeju has become a stage for crimes by illegal overstayers," the petitioner wrote, urging the abolition of the visa-free entry system for Chinese nationals.

Under Jeju's visa-free entry system, designated B-2-2, foreigners who meet certain conditions may stay on Jeju Island for up to 30 days without a visa.