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Is visa waiver between Ghana and South Korea for all?

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Claim: A viral social media flyer claims Ghanaians and South Koreans can travel to each other’s countries without visas. 

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Several social media posts claim that Ghana has signed an agreement with South Korea granting South Korean citizens a travel waiver. 

On TikTok, a user, Ghana Updates, shared the flyer, which garnered 220,300 likes, 10,000 bookmarks, and 19,300 shares.

Various comments under the post suggested the waiver apply to all Ghanaians and South Koreans. 

“I’m leaving everything behind and going to work as a cleaner and fall in love with the CEO,” a user @madame commented.

“I’m living in the now to work as a cleaner for Master Leo to fall in love with me,”  another user, @Awoh, commented. 

The viral flyer suggests that the visa waiver agreement applies to all citizens of both nations. 

Find similar posts with the flyer on X  here, and on Facebook, here and here.

However, is the visa waiver applicable to all citizens of the two countries? DUBAWA decided to probe further to clarify the situation. 

Verification 

DUBAWA’s checks indicate that, indeed, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, on June 1, 2026, announced signing an agreement with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun to waive visas for “diplomatic and service passport” holders after nearly half a century of diplomatic relations. 

On his X page, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah emphatically stated in a post that the visa waiver is for a particular sect. 

“Ghana and South Korea today signed a historic Visa Waiver Agreement for holders of Diplomatic and Service Passports,” he stated in his caption on X. 

Find publications on the visa waiver agreement between Ghana and South Korea here, here, and here.

The Passports and Travel Certificates Act, 1967 (N.L.C.D 155) outlines who qualifies for a diplomatic or service passport.  Section 6 states: 

(1) The Minister may issue a diplomatic passport to 

  1. a member of the Government proceeding abroad on official Government business and the wife of that member who accompanies the member on the journey;
  2. a diplomatic representative of the Republic accredited to any other country or to an official international organisation as head of mission, and a member of the diplomatic staff of that representative;
  3. a consular officer of the Republic;
  4. the wife and every member of the immediate family residing with that person, of a person referred to in paragraph (b) or (c) to whom a diplomatic passport is issued;
  5. the head of a delegation of the Republic attending an international conference or convention at which countries are officially represented; and
  6.  a prominent citizen or high public official proceeding abroad who, in the opinion of the Government, requires a diplomatic passport for the purpose for which that person is travelling abroad.

(2) A diplomatic passport shall not be issued to a person other than those referred to in subsection (1).

Paragraph 7 adds that the Minister may issue a special passport to a public officer or to any other citizen proceeding abroad on the official business of the Government, not being a person to whom a diplomatic passport may be issued under section 6.

Conclusion 

Although Okudzeto Ablakwah has signed a visa waiver with South Korea, this applies only to “diplomatic and service passport” holders. Claims suggesting it is open for all citizens of both countries are misleading. 

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