MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Ambassador to Korea Noe Albano Wong has announced that Filipinos’ entry into South Korea could be visa-free.

In a press briefing, Wong said visa-free entry for Filipinos in South Korea could be the topic of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit on November 25-26.

Wong said Koreans no longer need a visa to stay in the Philippines for 30 days or less, in contrast to Filipinos who still need a visa when visiting Korea.

“I am sure maybe our Tourism department might raise that issue because I talked to that – about that subject with the Seoul DOT in charge here,” Wong said.

He added that many Filipinos complain that it takes 15 to 45 days to obtain a visa at the Korean Embassy.

“We hope, in the near future we can have a free visa policy between Korea and the Philippines. But so far, there are certain numbers of illegal Filipinos in Korea. That’s why our visa policy is that if we can stop the entry of illegal people, naturally we can have a free visa policy. But there are still a lot of illegal people so… about 15,000,” Wong said. (Chris Figueroa/IAMIGO/CNS)