South Korea

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on entry to South Korea based on HIV status.

UNAIDS and the US Department of State report to be unaware of any HIV-related restrictions on entry to the Republic of Korea (South Korea).

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in London has a list of supporting documents that should be included with a visa application and none of those documents makes reference to HIV or the general health of the applicant.

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on short-term stay in South Korea based on HIV status.

While the website of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade states that ‘Korea requires an apostille certified criminal record check and a health certificate to be submitted with E-2 teaching visa applications or extension applications’, this appears to be out of date.

There is no clear indication of this among the lists of supporting documents that should be included with the visa applications available on the Korea Visa Portal.

Furthermore, the information outlined in the historic regulations and traveller’s stories sections below, suggest that while HIV tests were previously required for teachers, this is no longer the case.

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on long-term stay in South Korea based on HIV status.

UNAIDS and the US Department of State report to be unaware of any HIV-related restrictions on long-term stay.

For many years the country had been among the most restrictive in the world. The government prohibited the entry of non-nationals who were suspected of living with HIV, without specific procedures, and in particular for long-term stays. In addition, the legislation allowed for the deportation of HIV-positive foreigners. 

After protests from human rights experts and a lawsuit in December 2009 which resulted in the deportation of an HIV-positive migrant worker being interrupted, the legislation in South Korea went into revision. 

In 2010, UNAIDS released a statement of former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announcing that the Republic of Korea has lifted entry restrictions based on HIV status.

However, the Government of South Korea did not release official communication to confirm this. There continued to be reports about restrictions even after UNAIDS announcement.

It was only in July 2017, that the South Korea Ministry of Justice finally announced that English teachers would no longer be screened for HIV during the visa application process.

Given how HIV is still stigmatised in South Korea, treatment accessibility for non-nationals is not public information. However, we received the following feedback from a user:

“A person seeking treatment has to go to a hospital and after seeing an infection control specialist, they will be required to pay for a battery of blood tests. Prices can vary but on the low end, approximately close to 425 USD. When these results return confirming that the patient is HIV-positive, they will be put into a national database and assigned a case-worker that will help them make appointments for check-ups and bloodwork on a six-month basis. That national database is to make sure that the person accesses pharmaceutical treatment and doctor visits. They are also very good about protecting the privacy of patients to ensure that no negative flashback from the community occurs or no word can get back to the person’s employer about treatment.

Medication is provided freely, paid for by the state and the 6-month blood work is also paid for. You see your doctor every 3 months. The only issue is making sure that you are in a more metropolitan city so that there is a higher chance that your doctor speaks English.”

• UNAIDS
• US Department of State
• Embassy of the Republic of Korea in London
• New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• Korea Visa Portal

Migrant populations

Refugees and asylum seekers