South Korea’s justice ministry announced on 2 December that French passport-holders can now enroll for automated immigration gates at Seoul-Incheon International Airport, expanding eligibility from four to eighteen nationalities. Registration on arrival takes five minutes and cuts clearance time from an average of 15 minutes to under five.
Seoul said reciprocity was key: France already offers Korean nationals fast-track PARAFE access at Paris-CDG. With South Korea targeting 30 million foreign visitors in 2026, authorities expect 40 % of arrivals to qualify for e-gates, easing bottlenecks in the arrival hall and freeing officers for higher-risk secondary screening.
![Incheon Airport adds France to automated e-gate list, slashing arrival times]()
For French companies rotating staff to Korea’s high-tech clusters, the upgrade removes a pain-point—long queues that have sometimes led to missed domestic connections. Mobility managers should update pre-trip briefs and encourage employees to register at the dedicated desks in arrival halls C and D.
Officials hinted that the programme will expand to Busan’s new international terminal in late 2026 and that Korea is negotiating mutual recognition with the EU’s forthcoming Entry/Exit System, potentially giving French nationals a biometric corridor across two continents.
The move reinforces a growing trend: bilateral or regional fast-track schemes that sit outside traditional visa rules but materially improve the traveller experience—a factor increasingly weighed in site-selection and assignment-planning decisions.
Seoul said reciprocity was key: France already offers Korean nationals fast-track PARAFE access at Paris-CDG. With South Korea targeting 30 million foreign visitors in 2026, authorities expect 40 % of arrivals to qualify for e-gates, easing bottlenecks in the arrival hall and freeing officers for higher-risk secondary screening.
For French companies rotating staff to Korea’s high-tech clusters, the upgrade removes a pain-point—long queues that have sometimes led to missed domestic connections. Mobility managers should update pre-trip briefs and encourage employees to register at the dedicated desks in arrival halls C and D.
Officials hinted that the programme will expand to Busan’s new international terminal in late 2026 and that Korea is negotiating mutual recognition with the EU’s forthcoming Entry/Exit System, potentially giving French nationals a biometric corridor across two continents.
The move reinforces a growing trend: bilateral or regional fast-track schemes that sit outside traditional visa rules but materially improve the traveller experience—a factor increasingly weighed in site-selection and assignment-planning decisions.
