Ghana and South Korea pursue visa waiver for ordinary passport holders

Ghana and South Korea have commenced negotiations aimed at extending visa-free travel arrangements to holders of ordinary passports following the signing of a landmark Visa Waiver Agreement for diplomatic and service passport holders.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced the development after Ghana and South Korea signed what he described as a historic agreement on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa-Korea Foreign Ministers Meeting.

The newly signed agreement, which was concluded on June 1, 2026, grants visa-free travel privileges to holders of diplomatic and service passports from both countries and marks a significant milestone in bilateral relations.

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According to Ablakwa, discussions are already underway to broaden the arrangement to cover ordinary passport holders, a move that could significantly enhance travel, business, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

“Negotiations will continue to bring on board holders of Ordinary Passports,” the Foreign Affairs Minister stated in a social media post announcing the agreement.

The minister noted that the visa waiver pact is the first of its kind between Ghana and South Korea in nearly five decades of formal diplomatic relations.

The agreement was signed by Ghana's Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and South Korea’s Foreign Minister, Cho Hyun, during the Africa-Korea Foreign Ministers Meeting.

Attention is now expected to shift to the ongoing negotiations involving ordinary passport holders, which, if successful, would allow a much larger number of Ghanaian and South Korean citizens to travel between the two countries without visa requirements.

Such an arrangement could boost business travel, tourism, academic exchanges, and investment flows while further strengthening ties between Accra and Seoul.

The proposed expansion of the visa waiver programme is expected to build on the momentum created by the newly signed agreement and deepen cooperation between the two countries across a range of sectors.



MA