List of Countries with Q-Code Requirement to Enter Korea

Starting from July 15th 2023, South Korea applied the relaxation of Q-Code requirement for travelers entering South Korea. Under the new policy, travelers will not be required to register and present Q-Code or submit health declaration form when passing through the health screening checkpoint at the airport or sea port. However, it may not be widely known that the Q-Code removal policy was not universally applied.

Some countries are still not exempted from the removal of Q-Code requirement. Passengers from certain countries embarking on an airplane or ship bound to South Korea are still required to register for Q-Code or submit health declaration form upon entering South Korea. Such variability on the implementation of the policy was imposed to facilitate the shifting of the purpose of Q-Code. Initially, Q-Code was developed as a digital system to monitor Covid-19 spread through inbound travel. As Covid-19 spread eased and risk level downgraded to that of influenza, Q-Code was then transformed into a more generic digital system to monitor possible transmission of other infectious diseases through inbound travel from moderate or high risk countries to Korea. 

Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has determined several infectious diseases with quarantine requirements that must be monitored through Q-Code. The diseases include cholera, polio, yellow fever, MERS, animal influenza (bird flu, swine flu), ebola (ebola virus disease), and pest. For each disease, moderate and high risk countries have also been determined. If a country is included in the list, all passengers regardless of nationality would then be required to register for Q-Code or submit health declaration form upon entering Korea.

Note:

This list was valid until December 31st, 2023. For the list of countries with Q-Code requirement from January 1st, 2024, you can check out the updated list.

According to the latest announcement from KDCA that was published at the end of August 2023, 74 countries are currently put into disease quarantine control management through Q-Code registration. The countries were spread across three continents: 23 countries from Asia, 37 countries from Africa, and 14 countries from American continent. The list of the countries can be seen in the following table.

No	Continent	Country	Disease under Monitoring
1	Asia	Nepal	Cholera
2		Lebanon	Cholera, MERS
3		Mongolia	Pest
4		Bahrain	MERS
5		Bangladesh	Cholera
6		Saudi Arabia	MERS
7		Syria	Cholera, MERS
8		United Arab Emiteras	MERS
9		Afghanistan	Cholera, polio
10		Yaman	Cholera, polio, MERS
11		Oman	MERS
12		Jordania	MERS
13		Iraq	Cholera, MERS
14		Iran	MERS
15		Israel	Polio
16		India	Cholera
17		Indonesia	Polio
18		China	Pest, animal influenza
19		Qatar	MERS
20		Cambodia	Animal influenza
21		Kuwait	MERS
22		Pakistan	Cholera, polio
23		Philippines	Cholera
24	Africa	Ghana	Polio, yellow fever
25		Gabon	Yellow fever
26		Gambia	Yellow fever
27		Guinea	Yellow fever
28		Guinea Bissau	Yellow fever
29		Nigeria	Cholera, polio, yellow fever
30		South Sudan	Cholera, yellow fever
31		Niger	Cholera, polio, yellow fever
32		Liberia	Yellow fever
33		Madagascar	Pest
34		Malawi	Cholera, polio
35		Mali	Polio, yellow fever
36		Mauritania	Yellow fever
37		Mozambique	Cholera, polio
38		Benin	Cholera, polio, yellow fever
39		Burundi	Cholera, yellow fever
40		Burkina Faso	Yellow fever
41		Senegal	Yellow fever
42		Somalia	Cholera, polio
43		Sudan	Yellow fever
44		Sierra Leone	Yellow fever
45		Algeria	Polio
46		Angola	Yellow fever
47		Ethiopia	Cholera, yellow fever
48		Uganda	Yellow fever, ebola
49		Zambia	Cholera
50		Equatorial Guinea	Yellow fever
51		Central African Republic	Polio, yellow fever
52		Zimbabwe	Cholera
53		Chad	Polio, yellow fever
54		Cameroon	Cholera, polio, yellow fever
55		Kenya	Cholera, yellow fever
56		Ivory Coast	Yellow fever
57		Congo	Yellow fever
58		Democratic Republic of the Congo	Cholera, polio, yellow fever, pest, ebola
59		Tanzania	Cholera
60		Togo	Polio, yellow fever
61	America	Guyana	Yellow fever
62		Venezuela	Yellow fever
63		Bolivia	Yellow fever
64		Brazil	Yellow fever
65		Suriname	Yellow fever
66		Argentina	Yellow fever
67		Haiti	Cholera
68		Ecuador	Yellow fever
69		Colombia	Yellow fever
70		Trinidad & Tobago	Yellow fever
71		Panama	Yellow fever
72		Paraguay	Yellow fever
73		Peru	Yellow fever
74		French Guiana	Yellow fever

If you travel to Korea from the country in the quarantine control management list above, are you required to register Q-Code when entering Korea?

Yes, if you enter Korea directly from the country in the list, you still have to register Q-Code when entering Korea. However, if you travel to Korea using transit flight, you may not be required to register Q-Code if the country of transit is not in the quarantine control management list. As an example, let’s assume that you travel by plane to Korea with layover in Hong Kong. Once you arrived in Korea, big chance you will not be asked to submit health declaration form or present Q-Code at the health screening checkpoint. This is since Hong Kong is not in the quarantine control management list.

When will the quarantine requirement be lifted for the countries in the quarantine control management list?

The government of Korea through Korea Disease and Prevention Control Agency update the quarantine control management list every three to six months. The latest publication was in August 2023. It is expected that the list will be updated before the end of year 2023. Some countries in the list may be removed and some other countries can be added into the list depending on the consideration of Korean government related to the trend of infectious disease cases in each country.

So, is Q-Code still required to enter Korea?

Both yes and no. Yes, Q-Code is still required if your country of embarkation is in the quarantine control management list. At the health screening checkpoint, you will be asked to present Q-Code or submit health declaration form to the health officer. In contrast, if your country of embarkation is not in the disease quarantine control management list, Q-Code is no longer required. You will not be asked to register Q-Code nor submit health declaration form when entering Korea.