SENATOR JOE BIDEN PUSHES FOR VISA WAIVER FOR KOREA

This is a good gesture towards South Korea, anda good thing for some of my friends in Seoul. Also a potential plus for the U.S. economy with all those Apkoojung wives (wealthy district) coming here for a week or so to shop like crazy :)

U.S. Senator Joseph Biden urged the George W. Bush administration on Monday (Nov. 21) to include South Korea in the U.S. visa waiver program and reopen a consulate in Korea's second largest city of Busan.

Biden (Democrat-Delaware), a ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, issued a press release welcoming Bush's taking interest in including Korea in the visa waiver program.

"South Korea is a strong ally, and we should ensure that South Korean visitors in our country enjoy the same privileges shared by the citizens of 27 other responsible nations, including Japan," he said in the release.

He also called on the Bush administration to reopen the consulate in Busan which was closed in 1996, noting that China, which already operates a consulate in the largest port city of South Korea, plans to open another consulate in South Korea.

The visa problem has been one of the major issues between Seoul and Washington in the past several years as South Korea saw an increasing number of people traveling to the U.S. for various purposes such as business and education. (full article)