South Korea adds France to automated-gate programme at Incheon Airport

South Korea’s justice ministry has expanded Incheon International Airport’s automated immigration gates from 4 to 18 eligible nationalities, adding France, the UK, Italy and 11 others. French passport-holders can now register on arrival to use e-gates, cutting average clearance time from 15 minutes to under five.

Reciprocity was a key criterion: Seoul noted that France already grants Korean nationals fast-track access at Paris-CDG. Around 40 % of foreign arrivals are expected to qualify, easing bottlenecks as Korea targets 30 million visitors in 2026.



For French companies with Asia-Pacific operations the move simplifies rotational assignments and engineer swaps, while travel-policy teams should update airport-arrival briefs and encourage staff to enrol in the e-gate system to avoid missed connections to domestic hubs.

Korean officials hinted that the scheme will expand to Busan’s new international terminal in 2026. Negotiations are under way for mutual automated-gate access with the EU’s forthcoming Entry/Exit System, potentially giving French nationals a seamless biometric corridor across two continents.