Editorials
Wednesday, August 21, 1996
Visa waivers may
boost Korean visitor counts
BECAUSE the cumbersome process of obtaining an American visa has deterred international travel to Hawaii, any easing of the requirement would help. At the urging of the Cayetano administration, Hawaii's congressional delegation has introduced legislation to approve a pilot visa waiver program for citizens of South Korea.
The U.S. now waives the visa requirement for citizens of 24 countries, mostly in Europe; the only Pacific Rim nations similarly treated are Japan, Brunei and New Zealand. Currently, it takes about a week to 10 days for Koreans to obtain U.S. tourist visas from the U.S. consular office in Seoul.
Korean visitors to the U.S. this year are projected to total 500,000. Under the current system, the number is expected to double in 1997. How much that tally would shoot up if Korean travelers weren't required to apply for visas would be speculative. But Janis Koh of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Honolulu believes that the count, at the very least, would triple.
Under the three-year pilot program proposed by Rep. Neil Abercrombie and Sen. Daniel Inouye, tour operators in Korea that book round-trips would have to post $200,000 bonds with the State Department. A bond is not required of tour agents from any other country, and Chong-kuk Kim of the Korean Tourism Agents Association of Hawaii said he has never heard of anyone from Korea remaining here when the tour headed home.
Nevertheless, Korean travel agents may have to abide by the anomalous requirement. Abercrombie says he expects some resistance to the proposal in Congress because of the immigrant-bashing now in vogue. But he points out that Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole told the GOP National Convention that he doesn't oppose foreigners who have legitimate reasons to visit this country.
Korean vacationers definitely have a legitimate and purposeful reason for coming to Hawaii. The visa requirement should be waived for them and, in the future, for tourists from even more Asian countries.
A jolt for Holt
MEMBERS of the University of Hawaii faculty union should get an "A" for standing up for their convictions. In a rare contradictory stance, the union voted down its PAC's recommendation to support controversial state Sen. Milton Holt in his bid for re-election. The move sends a compelling message to lawmakers: You will be judged on more than your day-to-day duties in the state Capitol.
Same-gender marriage
CALIFORNIA has become the most recent state to reject a move to specifically ban same-gender marriage. Across the country, similar decisons are being made after Hawaii's Supreme Court ruled the state must show a "compelling reason" to outlaw such nuptials.
The belief that government has no proper role in defining marriage is held not only in Hawaii but elsewhere in the nation. A consensus may be developing that homosexual partners deserve similar financial rights, if not the same legal standing, as married couples.
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John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
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