PETALING JAYA: It was his first trip to South Korea, and all the 24-year-old wanted to do was appreciate the country, which he had seen on television and in films.
But on arrival, he did not get to go beyond Incheon International Airport and was deported on Jan 20.
The young man’s ordeal was shared by his elder sister, @_modah on X (formerly Twitter), who claimed her brother was asked to leave the country despite providing proof of income in Malaysia.
He was interrogated for four hours and then told to turn around and go home. He was denied entry into South Korea despite showing all documents, including the Korea Electronic Travel Authorisation (K-ETA), return flight ticket, itinerary and cash, to the Korean authorities at the airport.
Based on the Notice of Entry Refusal document shared by the X user, the man was denied entry for failing to show that he met a requirement in Article 2 of the Korean Immigration Act.
“Many said he did not prepare an itinerary and had no proof of accommodation. There were!” she wrote on X.
When contacted, @__modah said her brother was asked to take the morning flight after the interrogation concluded.
“He arrived in Incheon at 5pm (on Jan 20) and was interrogated for four hours. At 10pm, he received the Return Order and left the country the next morning,” she said.
Her brother declined to speak to The Star.
His was not an isolated case. Another traveller shared a similar experience of being denied entry for the same reason.
Just a few days after @_modah’s post went viral, a Facebook post by Sabreena Qistina claimed she was deported along with her friends.
She was travelling with a group of 20 and claimed that she was denied entry as she could not remember the travel itinerary and did not have enough cash in Korean currency.
“We were deported. We, four ladies, took a tour package with a company based in South Korea. In total, there were 20 pax. The tour guide who followed us from Malaysia also failed to help us.
“I don’t even know how (I will be able to enter South Korea) in the future. DIY (self-planned) and even (using) travel agents didn’t work,” she said in a post that was uploaded to a public Facebook page called “Road to Korea” on Jan 22.
Attempts to contact Sabreena were unsuccessful.
The post garnered hundreds of comments from the Facebook group’s members, with some shifting blame to those Malaysians who overstayed their tourist visa to work in the country illegally in low-skilled sectors such as plantation and manufacturing.
“This is due to some irresponsible people who stayed and worked without permission,” a user said.
Another user likened those Malaysians to undocumented immigrants in Malaysia.
“These people who worked in Korea without permits are just like Pati (undocumented immigrants) here in Malaysia. That’s clearly illegal,” the account said.
Another user wrote: “Korea assumed Malaysians were ‘economic refugees’...”
Malaysians can enter South Korea visa-free for a 90-day maximum stay.
However, they are still required to apply for K-ETA before travelling to the country.
The K-ETA with a fee of 10,000 Korean Won (approximately RM35), is valid for three years.
In 2022, Malaysia was listed as one of the top 10 countries with the highest inbound tourists in Korea, at about 100,000 arrivals.
Last October, TikTok user Hazwani Amira’s experience made headlines, prompting a response from Wisma Putra.
Hazwani said she was forced to return because her passport lacked physical stamps from the Malaysian Immigration Department and she had not brought along her old passport.
She said the immigration officer at Incheon Airport had raised concerns about the absence of any previous travel history in her current passport.
“I told the officer I had just renewed my passport and did not carry the old one. However, I was still denied entry,” she said.
