U.S. LOWERS TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR S. KOREA

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The United States has lowered its travel advisory for South Korea by one notch to the lowest level, citing a low level of COVID-19 in the country. The U.S. also lowered its travel advisory for Japan from Level Four to Three, marking a shift from a travel ban to an urge to reconsider travel.

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On Tuesday, the US State Department eased the travel advisory for South Korea from Level Two meaning "Exercise Increased Caution" to Level One indicating "Exercise Normal Precautions." Level one is the lowest in the department's four-tier travel alert system. The downward shift comes 6 and a half months after Washington issued a Level Two advisory for South Korea in November. According to the State Department, the U.S. CDC issued a Level 1 Travel Health Notice for South Korea, indicating a low level of COVID-19 in the country. Under Level 1, Americans suffering from serious diseases and who are not vaccinated are advised to avoid nonessential traveling. Those heading overseas must be fully vaccinated before departure. The CDC also lowered the travel health notice from Level 4 to 3 for 61 countries including Japan, France and Spain, indicating a shift in the risk of travel from "very high" to "high." The State Department's travel advisory for Japan has also gone from Level 4 meaning "do not travel" to Level 3 which urges citizens to reconsider travel. Attention now turns to how the latest US measures may affect the Tokyo Olympics set to kick off on July 23.