South Korea received 15.05 million foreign visitors in the first eight months of 2026, a record for the period, the culture ministry and Korea Tourism Organization said. Arrivals from January to August were up 21.6% from a year earlier, when 12.38 million visitors were recorded.
The annual milestone was reached more than a month earlier than in 2025. August alone set a monthly record with 2.25 million arrivals. Foreign visitors made 14 trillion won (US$10.3 billion) in tourism-related card transactions during the first eight months, up 48.5% year on year and the highest total since record-keeping began.
Regional airports and ports accounted for 27.8% of arrivals, the largest share recorded this year, suggesting tourism is spreading beyond the greater Seoul area. Growth was particularly strong among visitors from Chinese-speaking countries and regions: arrivals from China rose 29% to 4.8 million, while Taiwan arrivals increased 32.2% to 1.66 million.
Visitors from Southeast Asia also increased. South Korea recorded 454,000 arrivals from the Philippines, 407,000 from Vietnam, 295,000 from Indonesia, 243,000 from Singapore and 230,000 from Thailand over the eight-month period.