Korea Steps Up Efforts To Fight THAAD’s Storms Over Tourism

by SophiePadz / Mar 31, 2017 08:17 AM EDT

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The central and regional governments of Korea are stepping up efforts in order to fight China's move to regulate the tourism industry of Korea because of the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in the country.

The government of Korea believes that the country can combat and can turn this crisis into an opportunity using better strategies and efforts. They likewise believe that the government can eventually and this retaliation of China in the future.

According to Korea Times, the Korean government will permit the Jeju-bound tour groups from Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia to travel to other parts of Korea even without the bias for five days and this will start in May. This is also a part of the efforts of the government to boost its tourism despite the trouble brought about by the THAAD.

Apart from that privilege, the tour groups from those mentioned countries will also be allowed to use electronic visas which were only allowed for the Chinese before. Because of the sudden change of policy, tourist or those who plan to visit Korea will no longer have to visit the Korean embassy in their respective country to apply for the tourist visas.

Further, the Korean government will also help Korean airlines to expand their routes bound for Southeast Asia. With this, they also plan to develop and boost their partnerships with the airlines of the region in order for them to finally fight China's retaliation over the country's tourism because of the THAAD.

This July, the Korea Tourism Organization or the KTO will be opening their offices in Kazakhstan and Mongolia that are viewed as significant markets as per Economic Times. The effects of the anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or the THAAD especially on the economy of Korea has increasingly become serious and expected to get worse.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reported that the number of visitors from China between March 1 and 19 significantly decreased to 21.9 percent last year. This happened after the China National Tourism Administration ordered travel agencies to suspend organizing trips to Korea in protest over THAAD. The Korean government is serious in its implementation of these policies in order to boost its tourism amidst the THAAD issue.