The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea has markedly improved March, increasing by double digits for the first time since the diplomatic row over deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system last year.

According to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on Monday, a total of 403,000 Chinese tourists visited Korea in March, up 11.8 percent from the same period last year. The rebound comes after a sharp fall in the number of Chinese tourists over the past year due to diplomatic tension over Seoul’s installment of U.S.-designed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. The anti-missile system, in which China has strongly opposed to, has led to absence of Chinese tourists who made the bulk of revenue for Korean tourism industry since March last year after the Beijing government issued a de facto ban on group visits to South Korea.

In July last year, the number of Chinese tourists declined nearly 70 percent on year. The Chinese stayed away from the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as well with visitors down 41.5 percent on year in February.

The number sharply rebounded in March after governments of the two countries announced to patch up ties.

An unnamed official from KTO said that many individual Chinese travelers visited Korea last month, while group tours are still restricted.

The return of Chinese tourists and reduced geopolitical tensions drew 1,366,000 foreign visitors to Korea in March, up 10.7 percent from the same period last year. The overall number has also rebounded for the first time since March, last year.

The number of Japanese travelers rose 7.3 percent on year to 294,000 in March, marking the monthly highest in five years since October, 2012. The surge comes amid growing popularity of Korean culture focusing on K-beauty and K-fashion among young people in Japan and also an increase in travel demand during spring break, according to KTO.

The number of travelers from Asia and the Middle East combined jumped 16.4 percent on year to 441,000 in March, accounting for the largest 32.3 percent of foreign visitors to Korea. By country, the number of travelers from Taiwan surged 26.3 percent, Hong Kong 30.3 percent, and Vietnam 49.7 percent over the cited period.

By Park Joon-hyung and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]