Traveling during the pandemic is a hassle. I've been traveling between Korea and USA despite the pandemic for my own essential purposes. I have quarantined twice owing to foreign arrival, and my friend who had only the short-term Korean visa quarantined multiple times so far. Here are arrangements of what we experienced from Incheon airport to quarantine place for entries. Hopefully people like me/my friend would get clearer ideas about Korea entry until quarantine exemptions become available.
The complex steps we got through are divided in 2 sections. One for what happened in the Incheon airport, another for quarantine vehicle options.
For reference, the basic entry requirements for Korea related to the pandemic are listed in another article. If you are not yet familiar with the latest policies on quarantine exemptions, quarantine periods, PCR testing standards, and eligibility for exemption from quarantine, you may find this article helpful.
INCHEON AIRPORT ENTRY PROCEDURE
PROCEDURE
→ Quarantine Desk
→ Contact Verification & App Installation
→ Immigration
→ Baggage claim
→ Custom
QUARANTINE DESK
After your arrival in Incheon airport, you will work on Covid-19-relevant document submission first. At the quarantine assessment booth, you need 4 documents including passport like below:
- Passport
- Helath declaration form (given in flight)
- Travel record declaration (given in flight)
- NEGATIVE COVID-19 PCR test result
As far as I know, if the test result paper doesn't meet official requirments, short term visa holders would be returned to their own country right away. Long term visa holders are treated as same as Korean nationals.
Also, if you got quarantine exemption certification issued by Korean embassy, you will show it in printed form.
Vaccination records can be requested of you at the desk. The records can only be accepted when they are provided in Korean official vacciation certification app COOV, or with official paper issued by Korean Government. The other type of vaccination certiciations would not be considered official. At the time of this writing (2021-01-30), only Korean vaccinations are allowed. When quarantine exemptions resume (2022-02-04), vaccinations of other countries may be accepted.
↓↓ Requirements for PCR test result form ↓↓
CONTACT VERIFICATION & APP INSTALLATION
DOMESTIC CONTACT VERIFICATION
FLOW
→ Get in line for "foreign passport"
→ Korean contact number verification
→ Self-quarantine App Installation
→ Getting instructions about how to use the app
LINE UP FOR "FOREIGN PASSPORT"
After the quarantine desk, you will get help with verifying contact number & installation of self-quarantine app. You will follow a sign for "foreign passport", and stand in line. You will see several men siting at desks in a row.
* The guys are actually Korean soldiers who might be in their early 20s'. This COVID-19 work isn't their main duty though, they are staying at ICN airport from early moring to late night helping with guiding people thankfully
VERIFY KOREAN CONTACT NUMBER
The guys are checking if you have Korean phone number which can be verified at the desk. For all "no domestic contact number" people, they are sent to designated quarantine facility - airbnb or your own house is not available in this case. When you can give a domestic contact number to them, they call the number at the desk to see if it's real or not.
CAUTION
Beware of being out-of-battery. Even though you got a Korean SIM installed phone, being out of battery is treated as "no domestic contact number".
Another's phone number is acceptable
One good news is the number doesn't need to be yours. It can be contact of one of your families, or friends who can be responsible of you during your quarantine. In this case, the guy at the desk will ask the relation between the person and you, and make a call. If your arrival time is like 3am, 4 am, you need to let the person know ahead to get them ready for the call, because answering is required.
What happened to "the another"
When my phone number was used for my friend's entry, I got a call from airport at around 3:30am and answered it at first. Also, I got a number of calls from local health check center and government officers during his quarantine - whenever my friend in quarantine skipped daily health check due to jetlag, when his mobile phone GPS was off, when the person needed to walk out for PCR test, or finish quarantine, when the officer got him a quarantine kit, and when he needed to take photo of "quarantine notice" paper and send to them etc.
SELF-QUARANTINE APP INSTALLATION
Self-quarantine app is required to install in your own mobile phone (phone number is not an issue anymore). You are asked to turn on GPS for the app, and this GPS should be on 24/7 over your quarantine. GPS status is paramount.
자가격리자 안전보호 앱 - Apps on Google Play
Advanced self-quarantine app in 2021/ Status monitoring app for self-quarantine, such as self-diagnosis and location check
play.google.com
Immigration, Baggage claim and Custom
You might know how these goes. It's same as usual. You can show your visa form and answer the evaluator's questions. Welcome to Korea!
TRANSFER
CASE 1
ICN Airport → Quarantine facility
Quarantine facility is just a hotel in the city or domitory building once used for group workshops before the pandemic. Almost all foreign entrants who don't have immediate family staying in Korea with legal long-term residential rights will be moved to the nearest quarantine hotel from Incheon airport unless you have quarantine exemption.
This is how my American friend transfered to a quarantine hotel. Those who got a "lanyard" seem to be categorized for "a transfer to nearest quarantine facility".
TRANSFER FLOW FROM AIRPORT TO QUARANTINE FACILITY
* Got a lanyard in the middle of entry procedure
→ Passing Custom
→ Seeing a bunch of people at exit
→ They see your lanyard
→ Sit you at a waiting zone if time gap
→ Guide you to a hotel shuttle bus
→ Wait & board
→ Arrive at quarantine hotel
→ Begin quarantine
He quarantined twice, both times in hotel. One time the hotel was in Gimpo city, and another time, it was in Myeongdong district, Seoul. His quarantine hotel experiences are described in another article. If you are preparing "facility quarantine" in South Korea, you might want to click this link and check out photos and footage included in the article.
S. Korea Quarantine Hotel : Photos & Experiences
PROLOGUE 8 times of quarantine in S. Korea My friend and I have been quarantining in South Korea for 8 times so far. Three times in "designated facilities" which means hotel room mostly, and rest of..
koreanvibe.kr
CASE 2
ICN Airport → Your Own Quarantine Place
When you finally give the tax report to Customs, you will see a couple people standing before the exit. They are going to ask about your choice of transportation unless you are wearing the lanyard mentioned in case 1 above.
There are several options of vehicles for quarantine people. Before talking about them, I want you to bear in mind that NO FOREIGN LANGUAGE will be SUPPORTED in TRANSFER. Some officers could know some English, but you'd better not expect smooth communications.
Especially if your language is not English. If simple Korean communication is not possible, your best choice would be taking Quarantine taxi or getting a ride.
QUARANTINE VEHICLE OPTIONS
- A personal ride
- Quarantine Taxi
- Quarantine Bus
- Quarantine bus + KTX + α
Which are convenient? Option 1, 2, although they are pricy. Then which are value ones? Option 3, 4 obviously, yet it's a huge hassle. Details of each option will be discussed below.
#1 A PERSONAL RIDE
- Strength : C.O.N.V.E.N.I.E.N.T.
- Weakness : The driver must quarantine
If you set up a pick-up from your friend/family, tell people about it at the exit. Then they would guide you for making it. One thing you should bear is, the driver also would be required quarantine for 7~10 days at the moment. However, the quarantine policy is changing pretty often. Check out latest news about quarantine policy relevant to foreign arrivals and their personal rider. If you can drive your own car, it's gonna be the least headache.
#2 QUARANTINE TAXI
- Strength : Convenient
- Weakness : Pricy
- Fare : Depends on distance. Seems to begin at around 50,000KRW
- Destination : Anywhere in main land
In my mind, this is the best option. But Quarantine Taxi fare is much pricier than normal cap. I got a regular type of taxi(4 door sedan) to get to "광명" KTX station, the cost was approximately 56,000KRW ~ 70,000KRW. It might be similar to the taxi fare for west Seoul.
If you want to get a taxi, you can talk to the one grabbing you at the exit. They will ask your final destination (city name) and bring you to a price table. Taxi drivers are sitting just behind it.
As far as I heard from one of the taxi drivers, the fare to Daejeon city from the airport were about 250,000KRW. Also one of my friends paid 500,000KRW for a "van" type quarantine taxi to get to Busan.
#3 QUARANTINE BUS
For people heading to Seoul(서울) and Gyeonggi(경기), a handful of quarantine buses is available everyday. Bus fee is 16,000KRW, and the bus time changes often.
- Strength : Caring price
- Weakness : This ↓↓↓
- Destination : Seoul, Gyeonggi ONLY**
- Fare : 16,000KRW
You can refer to the excel file attached below (written in Korean language). The table you will see is "서울" for Seoul arrivals, and "경기" for Gyeonggi arrivals. Actually, there are a couple of buses going to different cities at the moment. But I'm not sure they're meeting your transfer schedule, or even if they exist after this month.
For the up-to-date bus schedule, check out Incheon Airport Website. The file I attached above was downloaded by hitting "특별수송버스 시간표 다운로드" button in blue mark on this screen shot.
It seems to me that the exisiting airport shuttle buses which are called "Airport Limousine" are used for quarantine transfer now. You can see photos of Airport Limousine in their offical website.
#4 QUARANTINE BUS + KTX TRAIN + α
Are you living in other cities beside Seoul or Gyeonggi? Then you might have no more choices than this or taxi.
- Strength : Value
- Weakness : Long waiting time, 2 more times of transfer and paper works, language barrier
- Destination : Any cities KTX train stops
- Fare : 12,000KRW + Train fare (+ Taxi fee if you use )
FLOW
Airport
→ Be waited in a zone for Quarantine Bus [1]
→ Move to bus stop following guide
→ Getting on the bus, Going to "광명" KTX train station
광명 KTX station
→ Buy train ticket [2]
→ Write a paper next to ticket booth, and stay in waiting room [3]
→ Move to the platform around 10~15 minutes before the train time by guide
→ Get on the train
→ Sit in the order of getting on [4]
→ Get off at your destination
KTX station in you city
→ Local quarantine officers will welcome you at the platform
→ You will be asked to write the address of final destination, contact number, name and so on
→ You will be asked to choose one vehicle option for your final transfer : ①Paid Quarantine Taxi ②Get a friend's ride ③ free quarantine bus of the local government [5]
→ Finally... home!!
--------------------------
REMARK
[1] The bus schedule is written in the exel file attached above. Check cells for "광명" arrivals
[2] You will pay for the train + the bus you rided here
[3] Got 2 bending machine for beverage and candies. Bathroom available
[4] Seat number on the printed ticket doesn't matter. You can place your baggage on your next seat.
[5] Local government offices follow their own transit principles. While some have got paid quarantine taxi, some others don't. Also free bus is not always available in every local city. Situation differs by the local office
What's KTX train & its Quarantine seat
KTX is Korean Train eXpress which is the fastest one domestically. For the transfer of foreign entrants, few cars of nornal KTX train are set only for quarantine seats. For example, people in quarantine can only sit in car 8, and other cars are used by non-quarantine public.
CAUTION
DO NOT BOOK TRAIN TICKET ONLINE. Train ticket for quarantine seats can be sold in person only in 광명 KTX station. Online reservation is not allowed. If you get a train ticket online, the ticket must be one for "non-quarantine seat". You cannot sit there, and cancellation/refund is your share.
GOOD LUCK FOR YOUR TRAVEL !!
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