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.<br />And our Yoon Jung-min tells us more. <br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br />Beijing had imposed the ban in protest against Seoul's deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system.<br /><br />The number of visitors from Japan jumped due to its economic revival and growing interest in Korean culture, as known as Korean Wave.<br />Tourists from other Asian countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan, also rose thanks to the expansion of air routes to and from South Korea.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br />Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News. <br />
