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| Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, is crowded with travelers, Sept. 12. Newsis |
By Lee Hae-rin
The number of foreign visitors to Korea more than doubled in August compared to the same period the year before, according to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) statistics, released Friday.
The KTO said the country saw 310,945 foreign visitors last month, which is up by 220.3 percent from August 2021. The organization explained that the dramatic increase followed a visa exemption measure taken last month, in which the government started accepting visa-free arrivals for short stays by passport holders of Japan, Taiwan and Macau Special Administrative Region.
The U.S. topped the nationality of these travelers, taking 16 percent of the total with 50,299 visitors. The number increased by 144.6 percent compared to the same period in 2021. China and Japan followed on the list with 30,248 and 26,482 travelers, respectively.
The rate of increase was the highest among Japanese travelers. A total of 26,482 Japanese nationals visited Korea last month, which is a 1,072.8 percent increase compared to the year before.
Taiwan, another country from which visa-free travel became available, saw a 632.3 percent increase with 4,401 travelers.
Meanwhile, a total of 702,153 Korean travelers departed for overseas last month, which is a 409.9 percent increase from the same period last year.
