Photo : YONHAP News
More than 15 million foreign tourists visited South Korea between January and August this year.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports estimated on Monday that 15 million, 48-thousand-435 foreign nationals visited the nation during the first eight months of 2026.
That’s up 21-point-six percent from the same period last year.
Compared to 2025, the nation saw the annual number of foreign visitors top 15 million roughly two months early.
In August alone, some two-point-25 million foreign tourists visited South Korea, up more than 23 percent from the same period last year in a record high for any single month.
Visitors from the Greater China region took up the largest portion, with some seven million visiting South Korea through August. That’s up nearly 29 percent on-year.
In particular, the number of visitors from Taiwan surged more than 32 percent to roughly one-point-65 million.