Korea maintains mandatory HIV testing despite lifting travel ban

January 2010 has seen the lifting of travel bans for HIV-positive people in two countries: the United States and South Korea. Barack Obama referred to the ban in the US as a “step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment. It’s a step that will keep families together, and it’s a step that will save lives.”

In South Korea, however, the lifting of the HIV-travel ban appears more like an empty gesture. While the government has announced a change in “internal policy” that allows HIV-positive foreigners to enter the country, there have been no actual legislative changes that make the decision legally binding.

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