Detained, Treated Like Criminals & Deported: M’sian Woman Recounts Korean Immigration Experience Despite Full Travel Docs
She warned Malaysians planning to travel to South Korea to stay vigilant, claiming anyone could be targeted by the authorities for such "unfair treatment".
Cover image via @iffahhannani_ (Threads)
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A Malaysian traveller has claimed that she and three friends were detained for nearly 10 hours at Incheon International Airport and deported without explanation, despite having what she described as all the required travel documents
Her lengthy Threads posts on 5 December have since gone viral.
According to @iffahhannani_, nine Malaysians were travelling together, but only she and three of her friends were singled out at immigration.
She claimed the four pulled aside had valid Korean electronic travel authorisations (K-ETA), a full itinerary, confirmed accommodation, prepaid activities, cash, bank statements, and credit cards.
"We were detained and denied entry by Korean Immigration for NO clear reason. Complete documents. No criminal record. No blacklist. Still rejected," she alleged.
She said the group had meticulously prepared for the trip, checking their K-ETA multiple times and ensuring all dates, bookings, and travel details matched. She claimed that immigration officers did not review their K-ETA or arrival cards.
The group landed at around 5am and was held in a detention area for almost 10 hours. When they asked why they were being deported, she claimed the officers simply replied, "It's their privacy (sic)."
"Privacy? For a deportation? Our money, our time, our lives just meaningless?" she asked.
Screenshots of @iffahhannani_'s images from her Threads posts.
Image via @iffahhannani_ (Threads)The woman claimed the officers were "rude, dismissive, and unprofessional", and that airport staff told them appeals would never be approved when they tried to contest the decision
She added that a flight attendant repeatedly pressured them to buy the earliest available flight home while they were still waiting for the appeal outcome.
According to her, what she found most confusing and unfair was that the other five members of her travel group, with identical documents and itineraries, passed through immigration without issue.
"We literally walked from Malaysia together, checked in together, and landed together. The ONLY difference? They ended up in a different lane, a different counter, and a different officer. That's it," she wrote.
She noted that the usual advice about dressing neatly offered no guarantee of being allowed through immigration.
"My friend, literally wearing a pleasant, neat outfit: pink hoodie, tidy hair, proper shoes also got rejected. So this whole 'dress nicely' advice? Doesn't guarantee anything. It's all luck of which officer you meet."
Her travelling companion, pictured in a pink hoodie.
Image via @iffahhannani_ (Threads)She also said a Korean agency had been assigned to guide their trip, and representatives spoke directly to the immigration officer in Korean, yet the four were still denied entry
She also expressed disappointment with the Malaysian Embassy in Seoul, saying their response felt like a "template message" that offered no real guidance.
She said they tried contacting what they thought was the Malaysian Embassy's number multiple times between 7.52am and 8.31am, only to later discover it differed from the one listed online.
She also emailed embassy officers and other contacts, but the embassy allegedly only called after they were already on their flight home.
"We expected some guidance or at least empathy, but the response felt like a template message. No real help, no direction, nothing reassuring for Malaysians who are stranded, scared, and confused in another country."
She said each of them lost between RM4,000 and RM5,000 due to flight changes, non-refundable accommodation, prepaid activities, and transport bookings.
The incident, she said, was traumatic.
"This isn't about 'you didn't prepare enough', 'you should've brought more cash', or 'you did something wrong'. We had EVERYTHING. We did EVERYTHING right. And still got treated like criminals."
In a separate post, she said they were not the only Malaysians affected that day
She claimed a family of three, a husband, wife, and their 5-year-old son, were also detained despite having return tickets, hotel bookings, K-ETA, and a complete itinerary.
She said they plan to file a formal complaint and hope the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will raise the issue with South Korean authorities to prevent other Malaysians from going through similar experiences.
The incident has sparked concern among Malaysian travellers online, with others sharing similar experiences of being detained or facing unexplained delays at immigration abroad. So far, neither the South Korean authorities nor the Malaysian Embassy in Seoul has issued a public statement regarding the matter.
