The Paper Arrival Card Is Gone: Three Walls Japanese Travelers Hit in Their First Hour in Korea

The paper arrival card once handed out on flights to Korea has disappeared. At the end of December 2025 it was replaced by the online e-Arrival Card. Japanese travel guides such as Arukikata note that it can be filed free of charge on the official site from three days before arrival, but with the change so recent, Japanese travel blogs are full of confusion. Add to this that K-ETA is waived for Japanese nationals until December 31, 2026, and the Q-CODE health form was scrapped for arrivals from Japan back in July 2023 — the rules on what is and is not required have changed three times in just a few years.

The walls continue after landing. One Japanese traveler wrote that when trying to use the mobile T-money transit card, 'none of the stations in Seoul would let me top up,' and ended up recharging with cash at convenience stores (personal blog, September 2025). T-money top-ups are in principle cash-only, and the mobile version accepts only Korean-issued cards. Connectivity trips people up too: one Japanese travel blogger set up an eSIM at Incheon Airport, but because the phone was riding on the airport's free Wi-Fi, only realized there was no data connection after exiting a subway station downtown.

Why does this keep happening? First, Korea's entry rules have shifted in quick succession — K-ETA waiver, Q-CODE abolition, then the e-Arrival Card — so older blog posts and videos age fast. Second, despite world-leading card penetration, transit-card top-ups, traditional markets and street stalls remain cash-first. Third, restrictions on exporting map data limit Google Maps navigation, so the apps travelers rely on at home do not simply carry over.

Thirty minutes before departure is all it takes. First, once you are within three days of arrival, file the e-Arrival Card at the official site (www.e-arrivalcard.go.kr); it is free, and any site demanding payment is a fake. Second, install your eSIM before departure, and after landing turn off airport Wi-Fi and confirm mobile data first — toggling airplane mode and rebooting fixes most failures. Third, install Naver Map or Kakao Map in advance. Fourth, exchange only a small amount of cash, 30,000-50,000 won, for T-money top-ups and market stalls; cards cover the rest. Handle these four things and the arrival threshold is lower than it looks.