South Korea Records 1.1 Million Foreign Visitors in September, Marking Third Consecutive Month Over One Million

SEOUL — South Korea has seen the number of its foreign visitors exceed one million for the third month in a row, according to data released on Monday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, representing a 225.2% increase compared to the same month last year. The data also revealed that this figure accounted for 75% of the corresponding number in September 2019, before the outbreak of COVID-19, and marked the most substantial on-year gain in four years.

In terms of visitor demographics, 264,000 were Chinese nationals, followed by 250,000 from Japan, 97,000 from the United States, and 92,000 from Taiwan. A KTO official cited the fall holiday season as a significant factor for the large number of Chinese visitors, while the number of Taiwanese visitors rose by 1,929% on-year. Simultaneously, 2.02 million South Koreans traveled abroad in September, an increase of 225% from a year ago.