Number of foreign visitors to S. Korea increase 15.1 percent on-year to 15.3 mil. in 2018

Thanks to the so-called Korean Wave and China lifting its group tour ban to Korea... foreign tourists to the country jumped last year compared to a year before... and this is giving a much-needed boost to the slowing local economy.And our Yoon Jung-min tells us more. The number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea jumped 15-point-one percent on-year to more than 15 million in 2018, mostly due to more visitors coming from China and Japan.According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of visitors from China in 2018 rose 14-point-nine percent to over four-point-seven million,... while those from Japan jumped more than 27 percent on-year to nearly three million. The organization said more Chinese visitors came to South Korea as China starting to lift its tour group ban to the country since last year.Beijing had imposed the ban in protest against Seoul's deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system.The number of visitors from Japan jumped due to its economic revival and growing interest in Korean culture, as known as Korean Wave.Tourists from other Asian countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan, also rose thanks to the expansion of air routes to and from South Korea.With the extra tourists spending money during their stay,... South Korea is expected to have seen some welcome economic benefits from last year's spike in tourist numbers.The Korea Tourism Organization also said the number of outbound tourists from South Korea rose eight-point-three percent on-year to more than 28 million in 2018.Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.