South Korea says 38 Vietnamese tourists have gone missing in Jeju island

INDEPENDENT: Thirty-eight Vietnamese tourists have reportedly disappeared in South Korea after arriving in the country through the southern Jeju island last month.

The tourists were part of a group of around 90 tourists who arrived on the island on 14 November. However, 38 of them disappeared during the final stop of their itinerary before they were set to depart to Vietnam, officials said.

The rest of the group members boarded the return flight but those who did not have been reported missing to the authorities.

Foreign tourists in the resort island can stay up to 30 days without a visa under the visa waiver programme. The programme, which is part of the Special Act on the Establishment of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, allows people from 64 countries to stay on the island for up to 30 days without a visa.

However, travellers cannot travel to other parts of South Korea, such as Seoul or Busan, unless they have a valid visa for the mainland.

The missing tourists are only allowed to stay on the island till 14 December under the visa waiver programme and will be considered illegal tourists after the deadline.

The Jeju Immigration Office said it is working to find the missing tourists and reviewing CCTV footage of the hotel and streets around it.

“We are currently analyzing closed-circuit (CC) TV to find out where the Vietnamese tourists disappeared,” an official from the Jeju Immigration and Foreign Affairs Agency said.

“We plan to organize a Jeju visa-free fugitive arrest team to start a full-fledged arrest.”

This is not the first time tourists have been reported missing on the island. Many of these situations involve individuals overstaying their permitted time or attempting to remain on the island illegally, taking advantage of Jeju’s visa-free entry programme.

In 2022, at least 55 Thai tourists who arrived in Jeju island with a package tour group disappeared during their holiday. They were suspected of taking illegal jobs in various parts of the country.