1. The Foreign Ministry hosted the 32nd meeting of the Passport Policy Commission on July 18. At the meeting chaired by Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, the Commission deliberated on whether to extend the travel bans to Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Afghanistan and parts of the Philippines.

2. In the meeting, the Commission, predicting the instability, poor public security and terrorism risks to continue for a considerable period of time in the six countries and parts of the Philippines, decided to extend the travel bans to them for six months until January 31, 2017.

3. The meeting brought together officials from such relevant government agencies as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the National Police Agency as well as civilian members. The participants took note of the importance of travel bans to risky regions amid the growing terrorism threats overseas, as can be seen from the series of terrorist attacks by armed extremist groups over the past months. They shared the view that it is important to take stronger measures to protect the overseas Koreans.


* unofficial translation