SEOUL: South Koreans are rushing to register or renew passports as they are ready for overseas travel they had contained for two years in line with the reopening of borders across the globe.
According to internal data from the Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp (Komsco) on Sunday, the country is expected to receive about 10 million applications for new and renewed passports next year, surpassing its annual capacity of 4.5 million to 5 million, Pulse reported on Monday. It means that consumers would have to wait longer than usual to receive their passports next year.
Komsco issued an average of 40,000 passports per month from January to August, but the number soared by 75% to 70,000 after September on the back of the increased vaccination rate. Komsco plans to beef up staffing to increase pre-production volume.
With over 70% of the population fully vaccinated, travel demand is expected to bulge next year.
An increasing number of countries are beginning to open their borders with proof of vaccination and negative PCR test. A tour package to Spain, Egypt and Swiss released by local travel agency Very Good Tour was booked by 120 people in a day. The country’s top travel agency Hana Tour has released a charter flight package for Thailand which has been allowing vaccinated travellers to enter the country without undergoing quarantine requirements.