Russia and South Korea can grant a visa free travel up to 30 days for their countries’ residents in 2013, South Korean consul-general in Vladivostok Lee Yang Goo said at the meeting with Sakhalin region deputy governor Sergei Khotochkin.

“The documents for cancelling visas for a 30-day travel have already been prepared and as of January 1, 2013, short-term visas can be cancelled,” he said. The issue of visa free trips was raised at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vladivostok last September. South Korea has already finalized documents on visa free trips and sent them to the Russian government for consideration, Lee Yang Goo said.

Visa free travels can boost tourist flows between South Korea and Russia.

At present, Russia’s Sakhalin is one of the most visited destinations by South Korean citizens. Around 30,000 South Koreans, who have relatives on the Korean Peninsula, reside on Sakhalin. Sakhalin’s Koreans regularly visit South Korea and Koreans residing in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula also travel to Russia’s Sakhalin.

Daily flights connect Seoul and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Moreover, Russian and South Korean planes also make regular flights between Vladivostok and Seoul and between Khabarovsk and Seoul.

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