Travellers to the country will no longer be required to present a negative coronavirus test result starting on Saturday.

Travellers to the country will no longer be required to present a negative coronavirus test result starting on Saturday, the Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.

The change comes after a government advisory committee recommended ending the mandatory PCR tests for inbound travellers.

South Korea is among the region’s last economies to hold onto strict border controls, though China, which has an ultra-strict “zero COVID” strategy, Japan and Taiwan continue to impose extensive barriers to travel.

Asian countries including Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have lifted testing requirements in recent months as the region welcomes back travel after relying heavily on border restrictions earlier in the pandemic.

South Korea lifted quarantine requirements for vaccinated tourists in April and dropped quarantine for all arrivals regardless of vaccination status in July.

The East Asian country has reported some of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in the world in recent weeks despite high vaccination rates and widespread mask-wearing, although the vast majority of infections have been mild.

Daily cases have hovered at about 100,000 since topping 180,000 in mid-August amid the spread of highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants.