Email below is from Mr. Sang Yoo, in the visa office of the Korean consulate in Washington DC. It should put to rest the question of visas for the upcoming IETF meeting in Seoul. Gene Gaines gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This is a forwarded message From: ¹Ì±¹ <consular_usa@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2004, 4:55:40 PM Subject: Visa for IETF meeting for MR. YOO =================Original message text=============== Hi, Mr.Yoo said that you don't need visas for the conference and can stay up to 30days in Korea. But he pointed out one wrong thing in your email. That is the following. You wrote; - This applies only to private U.S. citizens. Government employees and citizens of other countries need to contact their local Korean embassy for a determination in their case. Ken, in your case, if you are a government employee, you will need a visa. But the right information is that it applies to all U.S.citizens. And even though when government employees go to Korean for official purpose, then they need official visas. But when they go to Korea just for tour or non-profit conference, they don't need visas. If you have more questions, then please write us back. Thank you. ------ [ ¿øº» žÞŒŒÁö ] ------ ºž³œ »ç¶÷ : "Gene Gaines" ³¯Â¥ : 2004-01-13 06:15:07 ÁŠžñ : Visa for IETF meeting for MR. YOO Sang Yoo, Thank you for speaking with me today. I described what you told me in the email below, sent to the email list used by the people that will be attending the Internet engineering meeting in Seoul 29 February - 5 March 2004. Gene Gaines President Gaines Group Sterling, Virginia gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 703-433-2081 COPY OF MESSAGE SENT BELOW From: Gene Gaines <gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: Ken Hornstein CC: ietf@xxxxxxxx Date: Monday, January 12, 2004, 3:18:21 PM Subject: Visa for South Korea =================Original message text=============== Ken, As it happens, I attended a dinner Saturday that was addressed by Ambassador Han, the Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Taking up the Korean visa issue today, I spoke with an official in the Washington DC visa section. I believe I can state the visa regulation as it applies to U.S. citizens. - Individuals traveling to Korean to attend the IETF meeting do not need a visa, as they are traveling to attend a non-profit conference. They can stay in Korea up to 30 day for such purpose and for tourism. - If you travel to Korea for business purposes, such as meeting customers or other business purposes, then a visa is needed. - This applies only to private U.S. citizens. Government employees and citizens of other countries need to contact their local Korean embassy for a determination in their case. Ken, in your case, if you are a government employee, you will need a visa. - Another consideration concerning visa. People attend IETF meetings as individuals, not directly representing their company -- and clearly a private individual traveling to attend a nonprofit technical meeting clearly does not need a visa. Warning. I am only relaying what was told to me today by a responsible embassy official. I am not attending the Seoul meeting, but if I was, I would want to have an official statement from an Korean official regarding the visa request. One official who can handle such a request at the visa section in Washington DC is Mr. Sang Yoo. I am copying this email to him. A member of the meeting committee might want to put a formal query to him, and email his answer to the list. For Mr. Yoo, details of the meeting: 59th IETF Meeting, Seoul, South Korea, 29 February - 5 March 2004. For information about the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) see: http://www.ietf.org/overview.html Gene Gaines gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx On Monday, January 12, 2004, 12:12:27 PM, Ken wrote: >>I d be interested in answers people get from other consulate/embassy >>staff both from locations other than Boston and with different >>phrasings of the question. > Well, I finally was able to talk to someone at the Washington, DC, embassy. > Their answer? "We re not sure, but you might need one". -- snip -- > --Ken -- ==============End of original message text=========== -- Gene gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Embassy of the Republic of Korea http://www.koreaembassy.org ==============End of original message text===========
Hi,
Mr.Yoo said that you don't need visas for the conference and can stay up to 30days in Korea.
But he pointed out one wrong thing in your email. That is the following.
You wrote;
- This applies only to private U.S. citizens. Government
employees and citizens of other countries need to contact
their local Korean embassy for a determination in their
case. Ken, in your case, if you are a government employee,
you will need a visa.
But the right information is that it applies to all U.S.citizens.
And even though when government employees go to Korean for official purpose, then they need official visas. But when they go to Korea just for tour or non-profit conference, they don't need visas.
If you have more questions, then please write us back.
Thank you.
------ [ ¿øº» ¸Þ¼¼Áö ] ------º¸³½ »ç¶÷ : "Gene Gaines"³¯Â¥ : 2004-01-13 06:15:07Á¦¸ñ : Visa for IETF meeting for MR. YOOSang Yoo,
Thank you for speaking with me today.
I described what you told me in the email below, sent to the
email list used by the people that will be attending the
Internet engineering meeting in Seoul 29 February - 5 March 2004.
Gene Gaines
President
Gaines Group
Sterling, Virginia
gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
703-433-2081
COPY OF MESSAGE SENT BELOW
From: Gene Gaines <gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Ken Hornstein
CC: ietf@xxxxxxxx
Date: Monday, January 12, 2004, 3:18:21 PM
Subject: Visa for South Korea
=================Original message text===============
Ken,
As it happens, I attended a dinner Saturday that was addressed
by Ambassador Han, the Korean Ambassador to the U.S.
Taking up the Korean visa issue today, I spoke with an official
in the Washington DC visa section.
I believe I can state the visa regulation as it applies to U.S.
citizens.
- Individuals traveling to Korean to attend the IETF meeting
do not need a visa, as they are traveling to attend a
non-profit conference. They can stay in Korea up to 30
day for such purpose and for tourism.
- If you travel to Korea for business purposes, such as
meeting customers or other business purposes, then a
visa is needed.
- This applies only to private U.S. citizens. Government
employees and citizens of other countries need to contact
their local Korean embassy for a determination in their
case. Ken, in your case, if you are a government employee,
you will need a visa.
- Another consideration concerning visa. People attend
IETF meetings as individuals, not directly representing
their company -- and clearly a private individual traveling
to attend a nonprofit technical meeting clearly does not
need a visa.
Warning. I am only relaying what was told to me today by a
responsible embassy official. I am not attending the Seoul meeting,
but if I was, I would want to have an official statement from an
Korean official regarding the visa request. One official who can
handle such a request at the visa section in Washington DC is
Mr. Sang Yoo. I am copying this email to him. A member of the
meeting committee might want to put a formal query to him, and
email his answer to the list.
For Mr. Yoo, details of the meeting:
59th IETF Meeting, Seoul, South Korea, 29 February - 5 March 2004.
For information about the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)
see: http://www.ietf.org/overview.html
Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Monday, January 12, 2004, 12:12:27 PM, Ken wrote:
>>I d be interested in answers people get from other consulate/embassy
>>staff both from locations other than Boston and with different
>>phrasings of the question.
> Well, I finally was able to talk to someone at the Washington, DC, embassy.
> Their answer? "We re not sure, but you might need one".
> I basically took the same tactic that Sam took; I described the IETF as
> a professional organization, and explained I was attending a meeting
> of this organization. At first he said that a visa was not required,
> because this counts as a "visit", but then he said he wasn t sure, and
> maybe I would need a visa.
> I then started asking a few more questions. I asked what exactly
> "business" travel was defined as, and after going around a few times
> about it, he basically settled on the definition that if you were
> travelling to Korea to a meeting for a "business purpose", then you
> need a visa.
> The whole thing was as clear as mud, and he clearly wasn t that familiar
> with the regulations. I might try calling a few more consulates to
> see if I can find someone more knowledgeable.
> BTW, has anyone been able to contact the host web site? (The one
> linked off of the IETF Seoul meeting web page)
> http://www.tta.or.kr/ietf59/index.htm
> I ve been trying for a few days now and no go. It doesn t seem like
> a local network problem from where I m sitting, but sometimes it s hard
> to be sure.
> --Ken
--
==============End of original message text===========
--
Gene
gene.gaines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Embassy of the Republic of Korea