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A visa war has erupted between Korea and Iran after Korean authorities beefed up screening of Iranian nationals they say is necessary to clamp down on a growing number of illegals from the Persian Gulf country. Iran is responding by tightening its screenings of Koreans wishing to enter the country.
Korean expatriates and corporate officials in Iran say the fundamentalist country¡¯s authorities seem on purpose to delay issuing visas for Koreans, which previously took two days, for at least two weeks and sometimes up to 40 days. On Tuesday, the Korean Embassy in Iran sent a communiqué to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul asking it urgently to resolve the problem.
A government official said ¡°a significant number¡± of Iranians had recently been turned away at Incheon International Airport after the number of illegal Iranians in Korea sent alarm bells ringing at the ministry. The Iranian government has demanded to know why Korea would turn away visitors with valid visas from its own embassy in Tehran. Seoul says the Iranian authorities have responded by restricting entry for Koreans.
Seoul similarly restricts entry from other nations with large numbers of illegal residents in Korea, but a Foreign Ministry official said Iranians were taking it particularly hard. "Iranians are not only highly educated but also a people with such strong pride that they won't yield in their conflict with the United States,¡± the official reflected.
The Foreign Ministry has reportedly told the Justice Ministry, which handles immigration, that it wants to find a comprehensive solution to the problem. Preparations for working-level negotiations either in Seoul or Tehran are under way.
(An Yong-gyun agon@chosun.com )
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