South Korea restricts Chinese travel agencies from filing visa applications

The Consulate General of South Korea in Shenyang, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province has issued a notice suspending the acceptance of visa applications from many Chinese travel agencies in the three provinces of Northeast China.

位于中国东北辽宁省沈阳的韩国驻华总领事馆发布了一项通知，暂停东北三省的许多中国旅行社代办签证的业务。

Issued in late March, the notice said that the consulate general will not accept visa applications from a list of 52 travel agencies starting on April 18, according to the consulate’s website.

据领事馆在3月底发布的这项通知，自4月18日起，总领事馆将不再接受名单上52家旅行社的签证申请。

The consulate did not specify the reason for the notice, which also listed travel agencies that it declared are still eligible for visa application services.

领事馆公文并未说明暂停原因，不过网站上也有一份名单，声明这些旅行社仍然有资格申请签证。

On Monday, the South Korean government announced that it will suspend visa application services for any Chinese travel agency engaged in travel to North Korea in a push to control the north’s main source of foreign income, tourism, Korea Joongang Daily reported Tuesday.

据韩国中央日报社星期二报道，4月4日，韩国政府宣布，将暂停任何销售朝鲜旅游产品的中国旅行社的签证申请服务，旨在控制朝鲜主要的外汇收入来源——旅游项目。

The policy has been or will shortly be carried out in all of South Korea’s consulates in China, the report noted.

报道说，所有韩国驻华领事馆已经实施或者正在准备实施这项政策。

A Heilongjiang-based travel agency that is on the consulate’s list of suspended companies and that has business in both North and South Korea confirmed with the Global Times on Tuesday that they had received the notice from the consulate general.

在暂停服务名单之内的一家黑龙江的旅行社，同时经营着朝鲜和韩国的旅游产品，经环球时报在星期二确认，他们确实收到了总领事馆的通知。

"As of now, our business has not been affected," said an agency staff member surnamed Zhang, adding that they have not yet determined their future plans.

某旅行社的员工张某说，“目前为止，我们的业务并未受到影响。”并补充说他们尚未确定未来的发展计划。

In late March, Chinese travel agencies were told to choose to conduct business either with South or North Korea, an employee surnamed Liu from Heilongjiang Letian International Travel Agency, which is on the consulate’s eligible list, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

星期二，黑龙江乐天国际旅行社的员工刘某告诉环球时报记者，三月底，中国的旅行社都接到了通知，以后得二选一——带团去朝鲜就别来韩国。该旅行社在合格名单内。

Tourism exchanges between China and South Korea have grown rapidly in recent years. In 2015, an estimated 6.11 million Chinese visited South Korea, accounting for over 40 percent of the country’s total foreign visitors, China Central Television reported.

近年来，中韩两国的旅游交流发展迅速。2015年约有611万中国人去韩国旅游，占韩国外国游客总数的40%，据中国中央电视台报道。

Chinese visitors also contributed $22 billion to South Korea’s economy in 2015, accounting for nearly 1.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, Li Jinzao, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, said at the Beijing opening ceremony of the 2016 Korea Tourism Year in China.

在中国北京举办的2016韩国旅游年开幕式上，中国国家旅游局主席李金早说，2015年中国游客也为韩国经济贡献了220亿美元，占其GDP的将近1.6%。

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来源:环球时报英文版爱语吧作者:Grace