Growth rate of Chinese tourists in S. Korea rebounds after 5 months

SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- The growth rate of Chinese tourists arriving in South Korea rebounded in December after falls for five months, data showed Tuesday, despite diplomatic tensions between the two neighbors over Seoul's plan to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system.

The data compiled by the Korea Tourism Organization showed that 535,536 Chinese visited South Korea last month, up 15.1 percent from a year earlier.

The December figures represented a rebound of the growth rate of Chinese tourists in South Korea.

The number of Chinese tourists to South Korea increased 258.9 percent year-on-year in July before falling to 1.8 percent year-on-year in November.

The Korea Tourism Organization attributed the upturn to marketing campaigns towards individual Chinese tourists.

In comparison, 197,209 Japanese visited South Korea in December, up 23.4 percent from a year earlier.

In December, more than 1.34 million foreigners visited South Korea, up 20.3 percent from a year earlier.

South Korea and China have been at odds over Seoul's plan to deploy the U.S. missile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.

China has repeatedly expressed opposition against the U.S. anti-missile system out of concerns that the deployment could hurt its strategic security interests.

Seoul and Washington have dismissed such concerns, saying the U.S. missile shield is defensive in nature and focuses on North Korea's missile activities.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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