Just completed my trip and can happily say I was able to go landside from the departure area. It was a big leap of faith on my part since this isn't an advertised procedure anywhere. Here is the process I took:
- Go to Transfer Desk B on the 4th floor (Signage says Transfer Desk Asiana Airlines) and request a stamp to go through immigration. Present the inbound boarding pass (which will be stamped) as well as the outbound boarding pass.
- Proceed down the steps at Gate 25 and at the Transit Security area, approach one of the screening officers. State your request to go to immigration. They will ask for your boarding passes and passport. Security will escort you to the immigration area.
- Fill out an arrival card, utilizing the outbound flight # as the address. It might take some time for the immigration officer to figure out since it doesn't seem like many do this process outside of the transit tours.
- Proceed through the baggage claim/customs and into Korea.
There are some things I took note of through the process:
- I initially went to Transfer Desk C (Signage says Transfer Desk Other Airlines) and was told to go to the Info desk as they couldn't stamp it. I proceeded to the Info desk and was directed to Transfer Desk C since my boarding passes were on OZ stock. Not sure if other airline boarding passes would work.
- The Transfer Desk doesn't open until 6:40 am
- There is a transit tour desk by Gate 25 in the departure area if you fail to get the stamp, but still want to go outside for your layover.
- Forgot to check the hours of the Matina lounge (7:00 am btw) so ended up in the Asiana Business Lounge which opened at 5:00 am.
Image of my boarding pass with the stamp to help those who might get stuck if the desk doesn't understand what you want.