The government designated four additional countries from which vaccinated travelers will not be exempt from the mandatory two-week quarantine due to concerns over variant strains of COVID-19. 

Starting on Thursday, people vaccinated overseas will be allowed to skip quarantine, however the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced on Tuesday that travelers from India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines, where there is a high rate of variant strains, would not be exempt.

This is in addition to the 17 countries the government previously designated, including South Africa and Bangladesh. 

The exemption plan will allow people who are fully vaccinated overseas to skip quarantine if they are coming to the country for business, academic or humanitarian purposes.

South Korea already allows people who were vaccinated in the country to skip quarantine upon return.