Faster Immigration Screening for Koreans Traveling to Prague

By Kim Hyun-bin

Korean tourists to the Czech Republic will be able to pass more quickly and efficiently through immigration as they were included in the automated clearance system in place at Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague, Friday, amid a rising number visiting the European country.

Korea is the only non-European country able to use the 'e-gate system'

Under the program, Koreans over the age 15 can use one of the three e-gates set up at the airport.

The e-gate procedure consists of passport scanning and facial recognition and is expected to drastically reduce waiting times.

Each year, around 420,000 Koreans are expected to benefit from the system

In order to enable the e-gate procedure for Korean travelers, the two countries had been in negotiations since 2014.

Last year, the number of Korean tourists to the Czech Republic was the eighth-highest at 416,000, following 417,000 in 2017 and 325,000 in 2016.

Since October 2017, the Prague airport has been conducting test runs, allowing some Korean direct flight travelers to use the e-gate.

'The...