Upon receiving official approval of acceptance from the Korean Embassy, contact the KOICA overseas office or the Korean Embassy in his/her country in person in order to proceed the necessary procedures and participate in pre-departure orientation. Pre-departure orientation will be held at a KOICA overseas office or Korean Embassy to provide participants with details regarding travel to Korea, conditions of training, and other information. At this time, a "Participants Guidebook, " a Program Outline," and a "Letter of Invitation" will be provided.

Participants are required to prepare a "Country Report" as described in the information they receive from KOICA (program outline), and submit it to KOICA by e-mail(training@koica.or.kr) or the KOICA overseas office or Korean Embassy 14 days before training begins. If unable to do so, participants are requested to submit the report to the training institution upon their arrival. Participants must submit the original and bring a copy when they come to Korea.

The country report will be used for comparative studies among the participants during the training course, and for lecture references. In order to make the presentation of the Country Report more effective, as instructed in the Orogram Outline, it is helpful if participants prepare supplementary materials (visual aids, etc.) and bring them to Korea.

During the training course, a variety of extra-curricular social and cultural activities will be arranged for your further understanding of Korean people and society. It is recommended that you bring your national traditional costume for the social and cultural activities

Passport : Participants wanting to enter the Republic of Korea must have a valid passport. Those who have no nationality must obtain an entry permission issued by a Korean embassy or consulate abroad in lieu of a passport. A laissez - passer issued by the U.N. is also recognized as valid.

Entry Visa to Korea : Participants must obtain an entry visa to Korea which will be issued by the Korean Embassy nearest them.

If there is no Korean diplomatic mission in their countries, participants will need to obtain the visa in third countries. Upon receiving visas, please make sure that the Ierm of validity is long enough to cover the duration of the designated course.

Visitors with confirmed outbound tickets may stay in Korea for up to 30 days without visas. Exceptions to this apply to :
* Persons who have no nationality.
* Citizens from Cambodia, China, India, Iran, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam in Asia; Nigeria and Ghana in Africa; Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Macedonia in Europe; Cuba in the Americas.
* Visa-free, stop-over entry for 30 days for passengers holding U. S., Canadian, Australian, New Zealand or Japanese visas.
* Visa-free, entry to Jejudo.
* Chinese group tourists
* Citizens of the 12 CIS nations, and Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Extending Visa : A person with a valid visa for Korea who wishes to extend the visa must apply at the local immigration office at least 30 days before expiration of the visa. In general, tourist visas are not extended.

Visa for Third Country : In some cases, participants visiting or leaving Korea may be required to obtain visas for third countries due to stop-over flight schedules. In this situation, it is the participant's responsibility to obtain and pay for the visa.

Alien Registration : There are two types of visas issued by a Korean embassy or consulate depending on the length of stay. One is a short-term visa for visitors who want to stay up to 90 days; the other is a special long-term visa for periods longer than 90 days. In the case of the special long-term visa, visitors are required to apply for alien registration at a local immigration office within 90 days of arrival.

Visitors who plan to stay in Korea for longer than 30 days must obtain visas before coming to Korea. Special visa exemptions exist between Korea and the countries listed to the below, provided that their citizens do not participate in remunerative activities while visiting Korea. (Countries under Visa Exemption Agreements)

Since much effort goes into specific flight arrangements, last minute changes are discouraged. If, however, unexpected events require rescheduling, participants should notify the Korean mission or the KOICA overseas office. If a participant wants to change his/her flight schedule by his/her own necessity, he/she should inform KOICA. In this case, both additional costs for rescheduling and expenses incurred while travelling should be borne by the participant. If one is unable to participate in the training course, the ticket is to be returned to the Korean mission or airline company.

Occasionally, an airline may delay a flight or make an unscheduled stop that may result in missing a connecting flight or an overnight delay. If this should occur, KOICA headquarter should be notified and a copy of the boarding pass should be submitted to the KOICA program officer upon arrival

Upon arrival in Korea, all visitors will be requested to fill out an embarkation / disembarkation (E/D) card and a customs declaration card. These cards are issued on board before arrival and also may be obtained from their travel agent. The E/D card should be presented to Passport Control after disembarkation, and should be retained for the duration of their stay. The customs declaration card will be collected after clearing customs.

When departing, visitors are advised to arrive at the airport at least one hour before take-off. Be sure to pay the airport tax of 15,000 Won (about U$ 11) and have your boarding pass, passport, E/D card and airport tax slip in hand before you head for the departure gate.

Quarantine

Animal Quarantine : All live animals and animal products entering Korea must be accompanied by valid certificates issued by the exporting country's government.

Declare all import animals and animal products upon arrival to the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, where they must be inspected. Cloven-hoofed animals and their products that are shipped from import-restricted areas will be sent back or destroyed.

Plant Quarantine : Passengers who carry any plants or soil including fruits (mango, orange, papaya, etc.), vegetables, seeds, orchids, nursery stock or cut flowers, etc., must describe the items and declare them upon arrival.

* Import restricted items and areas;
- Fresh fruits, such as mango, orange, papaya, cherry, etc. : all countries
- Nursery stock of apple, grape, etc. : most European countries
- Walnut fruit and kernel : most countries
- Soil or plants with soil : all countries

Customs : An oral or written declaration for baggage must be made to customs officers upon entry. Incheon International Airport uses a triple channel system for passengers baggage inspection, which allows passengers to clear customs through the Green, White, or Red Channel.

Declaration : If you have nothing to declare you can declare orally. If you are arriving, you will need the following documents ready for customs inspection:
*Passport
*Flight Ticket
* Customs Declaration Form if needed
Korea Customs Service is adopting an Advance Processing System which alerts the arrival of Suspects and allows time for research. Ordinary passengers can benefit from the facilitated customs procedures by the factual unbiased tool that provides for data-driven passenger risk assessment.

Green(Nothing to declare) Channel and Red(Things to declare) Channel : If you do not have anything to declare, follow the Green (nothing to declare) channel. If you have something to declare, follow the Red (things to declare) channel. Your baggage may be examined by Customs whether you take the red or the green channel.

Prohibited Articles : Books, publications, drawings and paintings, films, phonographic materials, video work and other items of similar nature that may either disturb constitutional order or be harmful to public security or custom.

Goods which will reveal confidential information of the government or which are used for intelligence activities.

Coins, currency, bank notes, debenture and/or other negotiable instrument that is, forged or imitated.

Restricted Articles :
*Guns, firearms, knives and explosives
*Drugs(narcotics and psychotropic substances)
* Quarantine required goods(food, aninal material, plant material, etc)
*Articles controlled by CITES convention
# CITES:Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild fauna and Flora

Duty Free Allowance : Travelers are allowed to bring into Korea the following goods duty/tax free. Goods bought overseas or bought duty/tax free before leaving Korea are included when determining your duty free allowance.

US $400 worth of goods will be allowed to enter Korea duty free. It excludes tobacco or alcohol. For example, cameras, electronic equipment, leather goods, perfume concentrate, jewelry, watches, sporting goods, etc. Most personal items such as new clothing, footwear, articles for personal hygiene / grooming. And 1 liter of alcoholic liquor (including wine, beer or spirits) for travelers aged 20 years and over. Tobacco - 200 cigarettes, 50 grams of cigars and 250g Tobacco products other than cigarettes, for travelers aged 20 years and over.

Articles Subject to Declaration : You must declare the amounts of US$10,000 or more in foreign or Korea currency you take out or bring into Korea.

You should beware of buying souvenirs made out of animal or plant material as they may be prohibited; and all food items shall be subject to quarantine in Korea.

If you are carrying expensive items,

If you are departing your country with expensive items (such as computers, cameras and video cameras) and you intend to bring them back to your country, register these items when you are departing your country. Proof of ownership in the form of receipts for jewelry and other goods not readily identifiable might help you when you present the goods on return.

Money for Incidental Expenses : Participants are advised to bring some money in US dollars for incidental expenses that may be incurred en route to Korea or upon arrival in Korea.

The participant may have to pay the following incidental expenses:
*Taxes levied during the trip such as airport taxes, departure taxes, transit airport taxes, etc.
*Excess baggage charges
* Expenses incurred by a stop-over in a third country in order to receive a visa from a Korean Em- bassy, or due to a flight schedule for which expenses are not paid by the airline company. After arriving in Korea, the participants will receive a "Stop-over allowance", which KOICA will provide within the fixed amount limit described on page 33 - 34.