Easing of visa rules sought for Koreans
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Members of Hawai'i's Korean community, including travel industry executives, have launched a campaign to ease the tourist visa requirements on Korean visitors.
The move has been spurred by a precipitous drop in tourism from South Korea over the past decade.
"Korean tourism was up to about 150,000 in 1992 here, and now it's down to about 80,000," said Donald Kim, chairman of the Centennial Committee of Korean Immigration to the United States.
But organizers realize that they face an uphill battle: Security requirements for foreign travelers entering the United States have tightened since the terrorist attacks of two years ago today, and they're going to get tighter.
Since Sept. 1, the Korean Visitors to Hawai'i Project has garnered 5,000 names on a petition seeking to waive or lighten visa requirements for Korean tourists who stop only in Hawai'i, said Won-Ho Chun, president of the Korean Tourism Association of Hawai'i, which is spearheading the campaign.
Tourists from Japan have enjoyed no-visa travel to Hawai'i since 1988, Chun said, but Korean tourists must undergo an interview and application procedure before getting a visa.
The rules make it "even more difficult to come to Hawai'i," he said.
Last week, project volunteers canvassed Waikiki for more signatures, hoping to reap a total of 100,000 statewide by the end of the month.
The petition, and a resolution the group hopes Hawai'i lawmakers will introduce in January, are meant to demonstrate the popular support needed to win federal approval, Chun said.
He also has written to Gov. Linda Lingle, who said in a reply letter that a "Hawai'i-only" visa is a possibility, but that officials at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security will need to be convinced.
To that end, the association has enlisted the help of the Centennial Committee of Korean Immigration to the United States, which forged a number of national and international contacts in the process of planning this year's centennial celebration.
Kim acknowledged the difficulty of the visa effort but underscored the importance.
He said many Koreans are opting to visit Guam, which like Hawai'i is isolated, with no easy departure point to other U.S. destinations. But unlike Hawai'i, it doesn't require a visa.
Guam had only about 15,000 Korean visitors in 1992 and now has 150,000, said Kim.
Steve Bretschneider, chief marketing officer for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, traveled to Washington, D.C., in August and spoke to officials at the departments of State, Commerce and Homeland Security about the need to ease tourism roadblocks, especially for Chinese and Korean visitors.
The response so far is not encouraging, Bretschneider said, noting that a federal law due to take effect in a year would require fingerprinting as well as interviews for all countries for which visas have not been waived.
But while the state continues to seek visa waivers for Hawai'i-only stopovers, he said, better technology to check traveler identities may enable authorities to issue longer-term visas that can be used multiple times.
"The aim would be to make it somewhat easier," he said. "However, the federal laws are going to be difficult to do much about, at least right now."
Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
