Number of Foreign Tourists to S. Korea Jumps 18.5 Pct in September

The number of foreigners who visited South Korea rose 18.5 percent in September from a year earlier due to a base effect after visits by Chinese tourists plunged in 2017, the local tourism promotion agency said Tuesday.

A total of 1.27 million foreigners visited South Korea last month, up from 1.08 million tallied the same month a year earlier, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).

The number of Chinese tourists, among others, shot up 36.4 percent.

In March last year, China banned group tours to South Korea in retaliation for Seoul's deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system. The ban was partially lifted later.

The number of visitors from Japan rose 12.7 percent, but the growth rate slowed following natural disasters that struck the island country, the KTO said.

Meanwhile, the number of outbound South Korean tourists came to 2.52 million in September, down 0.5 percent from a year ago, it said.