South Korean people signed a petition calling for the cancellation of visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, and more than 50,000 people responded

The number of crimes committed by Chinese in South Korea continues to increase. Some Korean people have initiated a petition calling for the abolition of the visa-free entry system for Chinese citizens. According to the content of the petition published on the "National Consent Petition" website of the Korean National Assembly, as of noon today, more than 50,000 people have signed the petition.

The South Korean National Assembly's "National Consent Petition" website published a petition titled "Requesting a ban on visa-free entry for Chinese nationals and strengthening the entry review and criminal management of foreigners" at the end of last month. The petitioner proposed that in order to protect the safety of South Korean citizens, they requested the abolition of the visa-free entry policy for Chinese citizens and significantly strengthened the entry review, management and criminal information sharing mechanism for all foreigners in South Korea. As of 12 noon today, Taiwan time, this petition has been signed by 51,999 people.

The petitioner pointed out that as the number of foreigners in South Korea increases, people’s suspicions about foreigners committing crimes are also increasing. The petition cited statistics saying that the number of foreign criminal suspects in South Korea reached 35,296 in 2024, an increase of 6.8% from the previous year. Statistics also show that Chinese nationals account for a large proportion of recent foreign criminal cases.

The petitioner also argued that Chinese nationals account for a relatively high proportion of criminal cases committed by foreigners. Therefore, before national safety is fully ensured, whether to continue or expand the visa-free entry policy for Chinese citizens should be carefully reviewed.

The petitioner emphasized that revitalizing tourism and creating economic benefits is important, but it must not be placed above the lives and safety of citizens. If visa-free entry is opened, the government should avoid security loopholes caused by the inability to fully confirm identity and criminal risks before entry.

The petition also mentioned that international cooperation on criminal intelligence sharing must be expanded regardless of nationality to thoroughly verify relevant information before entry. For foreigners with criminal records who re-enter, the long-term or permanent entry ban standards for serious offenders must also be tightened to ensure that foreigners who have committed serious crimes in South Korea and were forcibly deported cannot easily re-enter after a certain period of time. At the same time, it is also necessary to strengthen the unified management system that integrates criminal information from immigration authorities, police and prosecutors.