Airport Change when transiting in Korea (Indonesian passport, Canadian PR)

Question

I am travelling to Japan from Canada and I found a ticket with Seoul transit. However, the Seoul transit will require an Airport change from ICN to GMP. It will be 20 hours layover which will be perfect for me to visit some friends in Korea.

The flight will be: Canada -> ICN, GMP -> Japan

It seems like I will be eligible for transit visa so I can get out of the airport. Is this true?

Answer 1

Yes, your Indonesian passport and Canada PR card will allow you to pass immigration and enter Korea for up to 30 days, provided your flight is either to or from Canada, and you stay no longer than 3 days at any other transit country in your itinerary.

Timatic, the database which airlines use to verify passenger travel documents, states in relevant part:

Visa Exemptions:

• Nationals of any country with a residence permit issued by Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Rep.), Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA or United Kingdom and a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to the country that issued the residence permit within 30 days. The following itineraries are possible:

  • arrive from a third country and departing to the country that issued the residence permit (e.g. PVG-ICN-SYD); or

  • arrive from a third country and depart to another country for a maximum stay of 3 days, before departing to to the country that issued the residence permit (e.g. PVG-SGN-ICN-SYD) [sic]; or

  • arrive after transiting through a third country for a maximum of 3 days (e.g. PVG-ICN-SGN-SYD) [sic].

  • This does not apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cuba, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Kosovo (Rep.), Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, North Macedonia (Rep.), Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

  • This does not apply to passengers with "The Palestinian Authority" passport.

(the transit airport examples are reversed in the original)