S. Korea's tourism balance swings to deficit in July after 4 months of surplus - Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's tourism balance swung back to a deficit in July after posting surpluses for four consecutive months, industry data showed Sunday.

The balance posted a deficit of US$50.3 million in July, reversing a surplus of $596.6 million in June, according to the data from the Korea Tourism Organization.

Total tourism spending by South Koreans overseas reached $2.67 billion in July, exceeding the $2.62 billion spent by foreign visitors in the country, the data showed.

South Korea's tourism balance had remained in the red for 72 consecutive months, since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to disrupt international travel. It returned to a surplus in March this year and stayed in the black through June before slipping back into a deficit in July.

Market watchers attributed the improvement in the tourism balance earlier this year in part to a series of major K-pop events by supergroup BTS that drew foreign visitors to South Korea while calling for concerted efforts to develop attractive cultural content to draw more foreign travelers.

Tourists visit the "hanok" village in central Seoul, in this file photo taken July 28, 2026. (Yonhap)