I am a US citizen and passport holder. I currently live and work in South Korea with an E-1 Visa. My foreign registration card expires on August 31 2011.

I have already made travel plans to visit Hong Kong from April 14-17 and mainland China from April 17-24. I was intending to visit the Chinese consulate in Seoul tomorrow to be issued tourist visas for both Hong Kong and mainland China. I did not know about the new "6 months remaining validity" rule until I saw this information posted here today. I am prepared to make an emergency trip to the Chinese consulate in Busan to rectify the problem, but now I see that the Busan consulate may be enforcing the "6 months remaining validity" rule as well. Can you confirm that the Busan consulate is also applying this new rule? If so, is there any way out of my predicament on such short notice? Might it be possible for me to obtain in South Korea a visa to go to Hong Kong only, but not mainland China?