South Koreans are expected to travel to the member countries of the European Union freely as of July 1 after the EU has lifted travel restrictions on 15 countries including Korea ahead of the summer holiday season.

According to media reports on Monday (local time), 27 member states of the EU have reached an agreement to allow the entry of passengers from 15 nations including Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand starting July 1. It has been about 100 days since the EU banned nonessential travel to the bloc from outside in mid-March when the region emerged as a center of the virus pandemic.

The European Commission drew up the list after studying the number of new COVID-19 cases over the past 14 days, the overall trend of cases and government handling of the situation. As many as 54 countries had been reviewed, but only 15 were included in the final list.

The United States was excluded and thus Americans will remain barred from traveling the region as the number of new coronavirus cases in the country recently was over 40,000 a day.

China, subject to confirmation of reciprocity, will be added if Beijing allows entry of EU citizens first.

Detailed standards for re-opening of EU borders will be unveiled soon.

Shares of Korean Air Lines Co., Korea’s No. 1 full-service carrier, rose 1.73 percent to close at 17,650 won ($14.67) on Wednesday on expectations that the number of outbound travelers would increase following the bloc’s latest decision.

By Jin Young-hwa and Lee Ha-yeon

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