South Korea and Japan have agreed to ease entry restrictions on each other’s business people from this week as a way of countering economic fallout from the COVID-19 epidemic and enhancing bilateral cooperation. 

The agreement on special entry procedures announced by both countries on Tuesday will exempt business people from a two-week compulsory quarantine upon arrival in each other's country from Thursday as long as they abide by a set of complementary measures, including two-week health monitoring. 

Also under the agreement, those arriving for a long-term residential purpose in connection to businesses or diplomatic affairs will benefit quarantine exemptions, though arrivals aimed at long-haul residence only will still need to go through quarantine for a fortnight. 

The measure is expected to resume personnel exchanges between the two countries, which have been virtually suspended since March when Japan imposed an entry ban on South Koreans amid the pandemic and South Korea responded with similar measures on Japanese. 

This makes Japan the fifth country to benefit from South Korea’s special entry procedures for business people, following China, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Singapore, while South Korea is the second country entitled to similar measures from Japan after Singapore.