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Korea's passport ranked among one of the top passports in the world in the second quarter of 2019 allowing Korean passport holders to visit a total of 187 countries without the need of a visa prior to their visit making it one of the strongest passports in the world. 

Hong Kong passports rank 19th in the world with a total of 169 countries whereas Taiwan passport ranks 29th with a total of 148 countries. In October last year, the Korean government announced two passport designs and chose the design through a nationwide vote. Starting 2020, Korean passports will change their color!

2020 Change in South Korean Passport Color

South Korea which has had one of the strongest passports in the world, has changed its passport design after 32 years of having the previous green design. They put a nationwide vote to choose the design of the passport between the two given above. If you were Korean, which design would you choose?

With the final result of the vote, design B shown above won. From left to right: Blue - General Citizen Passport, Gray - Official Passport, Red - Diplomat Passport

The inner pages of the passport are designed with pictures such as Korean mythical beasts, monuments, and other symbolic objects and places. The Korean Government has also said that it will gradually change the passport design where the paragraph is shown.

The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also repeatedly told Koreans to not intentionally report passport losses in order to change their passport and get a new one as it will then affect the time that people who really need it will get their new passports. Don't you think that the new passport design is really different from the current one?

South Korea uses the same green color passport as Taiwan but the new passport will change to blue. Although there are no limits on which color a country decides to choose for their passport color, why did the South Korean government choose to change to blue out of the many colors?

Some people say that it is because the North Korean passport is blue and so South Korea also changed their passport color to blue to signify a closer relationship between the two Koreas. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs they said that the current color of the passport did not have any reason behind it and so they chose a new color in which people will not get tired of looking at.

This answer is very ambiguous leading to even Korean people to be curious about the reasons behind this color change.

Secret behind Passport Color

Passports from around the world are divided into four colors: blue, red, green, and black. The following is a summary of the meaning behind each color.

Blue Passport

US, Canada, North Korea, Africa, Central and Pacific Island Countries, Hong Kong Passports and more

Many people believe that the color blue are used by countries that have free markets or those who have distinct sovereignty but this part is also quite confusing as there are various symbolic claims for over 100 countries.

Red Passport

EU Member Countries, China, Japan, Russia, Poland, Peru, Hong Kong National Passports and more

It is said that the red passport is used by countries that once were communist or were a colony of European countries in the past.

Green Passport

Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Passports and more 

Some people say the color green relies behind religious significance. For example, most Islamic majority countries use the color green and West African countries also use green in unison. However, others say the color Green is used by countries with sovereign divisions.

Black Passport

New Zealand, Angola, Congo Passports and more 

Black passports are rae but New Zealand follows their countries national color for their passport color which is the same with African countries such as Angola.

The above was information about the Korean passport changing color. Starting 2020, Koreans may have two different passports. It's unique and fascinating just thinking about having two different passports haha.