South Korea aims to attract 8.5 million foreign tourists this year by luring more visitors from China and Japan, the government said Saturday.
The target is higher than the 7.8 million goal the nation set the previous year. Last year, around 7 million foreign tourists visited South Korea, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Corp.
They set the higher target for this year as the government earlier designated the next three years as “Visit Korea” years, intended to lure more foreign tourists as part of efforts to bolster the service industry.
The ministry and the state-run tourism agency aim to attract more than 10 million foreign visitors in 2012.