In another move toward normalization, the government has decided to end a special travel advisory that has been in place for two years since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foreign ministry said beginning Thursday, the system will be switched to the initial country-driven travel alert scheme, in line with current global COVID-19 trends and the government's revised quarantine policy.

With the move, travel advisories for 22 countries including Singapore, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands will be downgraded to Level 1. For 129 others, including the U.K., Germany and France, their levels will drop to Level 2.

Meanwhile, special travel advisories for 26 countries including China and Russia will remain in place, while travel warnings for war-torn Myanmar and Ukraine will be maintained at high levels.