Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Kanchi1979/WikiCommons/CC BY 2.5
A RARE DIPLOMATIC spat between Taiwan and South Korea broke out over South Korea labeling Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in its e-arrival system for travelers. The dropdown menu occurs for selecting “place of departure” and “next destination,” though it is possible to still pick Taiwan as “country.”
After months of negotiation attempting to get South Korea to change the designation, the Taiwanese government stated that it would pursue measures against South Korea. This eventually was announced as taking the form of changing the country name on Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) from “Republic of Korea”, the official name of the country, to “South Korea.”
The change will only apply to newly issued ARCs for first-time applicants and for individuals renewing their ARCs.
The Taiwanese government takes the view that the South Korean government’s shift on Taiwan’s designation downgrades Taiwan’s sovereignty. This only became an issue after South Korea switched toward an online e-arrival system that replaced paper arrival cards. For its part, South Korea says that it will continue to negotiate with all involved parties.
It is unclear if the spat represents a more assertive Lai administration, which feels empowered to hit out at what it sees as acts downgrading Taiwan’s sovereignty. But this is not the only spat about designations of Taiwan abroad in recent memory.
Last year, South Africa unilaterally changed the name of Taiwan’s representative office from “Taipei Liaison Office” to the “Taipei Commercial Office. Likewise, South Africa ordered Taiwan to move its representative office outside of the capital of Pretoria. Reciprocal measures then considered by Taiwan were to also order South Africa’s diplomatic representation in Taiwan to also move their offices outside of Taipei.
Indeed, there have been a number of incidents in the past that involved Taiwan being listed as part of China in online menus. This has most commonly involved airlines listing Taiwan as part of China. In 2018, American Airlines, Delta, and United Airlines all moved to list Taiwan as part of China.
Moreover, in 2024, Botswana also changed a dropdown menu for e-visas to remove Taiwan and to list Taiwan as part of China. Botswana is not the only country to do so, resulting in a number of countries to which Taiwanese have difficulty traveling to. One result is that sometimes Taiwanese have to enter such countries by applying through travel agencies.
South Korea listing Taiwan as part of China in its e-arrival system probably does not represent any deterioration in ties between the two countries. At the same time, it is not surprising as to why South Korea has not been attentive to the optics of its relationship with Taiwan.
South Korean president Lee Jae Myung has made moves to bury the hatchet when it comes to the longstanding enmity between South Korea and Japan due to the actions of the Japanese empire, in meeting with Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi. It is thought that this is due to a desire to shore up relationships, given the potential security threat to both nations due to waning US power.
Still, this may not extend to strengthening ties between South Korea and Taiwan. South Korea’s political leadership has traditionally taken the view, after all, that a Taiwan conflict is between Taiwan and China and would not implicate South Korea. It is possible that, as regional tensions worsen, the South Korean government will become increasingly cautious of the fallout that would result from the outbreak of a shooting war between Taiwan and China and come to the view that proactive participation in regional action is the best option to mitigate conflict. But for now, even if South Korea’s listing of Taiwan under China in its e-arrival system shows that Taiwan is not a high priority, this does not occur due to any worsening of relations between Taiwan and South Korea either.