A well-intended policy often produces an effect opposite to what was intended due to a lack of coordination among the ministries involved. The latest example could be the government’s decision to exempt visa application fees for group tourists from Asian countries, including China, India, Indonesia and Thailand.

The decision was reached at a meeting of economic ministers presided over by President Park Geun-hye last month. The Ministry of Justice proposed to implement the plan from Jan. 1 to mark the launch of Visit Korea Year 2016-2018, a campaign aimed at attracting more than 20 million tourists a year.

There is nothing wrong with the plan in principle. Its positive effects were proven last year when the ministry temporarily exempted visa fees -- $15 per person -- for Chinese tourists following the outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome. 

But the problem is that the measure has deprived the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of an important source of revenue. The ministry had been using part of the fee income to pay local staff at its missions abroad.

Earlier this week, the ministry told its missions in China and other Asian countries to lay off their local assistants hired to screen visa applications by the end of this month.

The ministry said the decision was inevitable as it lacked an alternative revenue source. It noted the government decision had been made without the presence of its minister, meaning that it had no say as to when to implement the plan and where to find a substitute source of funding.

The layoffs of local staff, especially those at the missions in China, could backfire. Of the 120 staff to be sacked, 93 are in China. Their absence could cause problems as the Korean consulates there rely heavily on them.

Last year, the Korean Embassy in China issued 2.64 million visas. The number dropped from 3.3 million in 2014 due to the MERS outbreak. This year, however, it is expected to rebound to above 3 million.

Without the local staff, it would take longer to screen the piles of visa applications. This could discourage Chinese tourists from visiting Korea, defeating the purpose of exempting visa fees for them.

To attain the goals of Visit Korea Year, it is essential to attract more Chinese tourists. The Foreign Ministry needs to come up with measures to retain the local staff at its China missions. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance should help it find the money.