Another large Chinese city has decided to lift its sales ban on package tour programs to South Korea amid the thawing relations between Seoul and Beijing.<br />The two sides fell out badly in 2016 over South Korea's deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system.<br />Lee Seung-jae reports. <br /> The rift over the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in South Korea had brought Chinese group tours to the South to a virtual halt since 2016 following Beijing's retaliatory sales ban. <br />However, it seems relations are finally beginning to normalize.<br />This, after a second Chinese city announced it was reopening group tour package program to South Korea.<br />China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism held a regional meeting in the southwestern city of Chongqing over the weekend to approve the decision.<br /> It comes just a week after Wuhan, the sprawling capital of Hubei Province, became the first Chinese city to reopen sales of group tour packages to South Korea. <br /> The neighboring countries began recovering bilateral exchanges in affected areas, including tourism, entertainment and other commercial sectors, following President Moon Jae-in's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in December last year.<br />In a sign things are steadily returning to normal,... the number of Chinese visitors to South Korea passed the 400-thousand threshold in March for the first time since February 2017.<br /> Observers attribute the rising tourist numbers to an improvement in bilateral relations, coupled with South Korea's successful hosting of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.<br />Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News. <br />
