KOREAN NET

Korea Tourism Organization data on Oct. 31 said 1.46 million international tourists visited Korea last month. Shown are foreign visitors tourists clad in Hanbok (traditional clothing) on Sept. 18 looking around Gyeongbokgung Palace in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap News)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

An estimated 1.46 million tourists from abroad visited the country last month, surpassing the level in the same month of 2019, the year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monthly statistics released on Oct. 31 by the Korea Tourism Organization said the September figure was 33.4% higher than in the same month last year and up 0.3% from September 2019.

This was also the first time for a monthly figure to exceed that in 2019.

By country, Chinese tourists accounted for the most with 423,000, followed by Japanese (311,000), Taiwanese (126,000), Americans (110,000) and Vietnamese (45,000).

Through last month, 12.14 million foreign tourists visited Korea this year, a 58.5% jump from the same period last year and equal to 94% of the 2019 level.

aisylu@korea.kr