Despite THAAD Dispute, Chinese Tourists Increase in SK

Despite the recent controversy between South Korea and China over the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, more commonly known as THAAD, data shows that the number of Chinese tourists in the country has increased.

The Korea Times reports that the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) released data showing that 910,000 Chinese visited Korea last month, 32 percent higher than last year. It sets a new monthly high record in the number of Chinese tourists.

It is also notable that 1.02 million Chinese tourists visited Korea five weeks after the Seoul government declared on July 8 that the THAAD defense system will be deployed on Korean soil. Between June 4 and July 7, the number of Chinese visitors which totaled to 881,000 has increased 15.9 percent after the government's announcement.

The KTO also said that the 2015 data was not used for comparison due to the fact that tourism in Korea was deeply affected by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.

An official at KTO said, "Exchanges between the two countries remain active in private sectors. We believe they have become important partners to each other in the tourism industry."

The data also shows that for the first seven months of 2016, 9.8 million foreigners went to South Korea, 23 percent higher than that of the same period two years ago. Of the total number of tourists to date, 4.73 million were Chinese.

The official further added, "We will keep trying to develop various programs to make Korea more attractive to Chinese tourists."

After the government announcement of the THAAD deployment, many Korean officials and businessmen expressed concerns that it might bring about economic repercussions from the Chinese government.

Officials in the technology, retail, automotive, and tourism industries have carefully kept an eye on how the rising diplomatic tension between the two nations would affect their businesses that involve the Chinese market.