S. Korea, Japan agree to expand tourism exchanges

SEOUL, March 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Japan have agreed to boost tourist
exchanges and strengthen cultural ties this year, furthering advances made in
2008, Seoul officials said Friday.

South Korean Culture Minister Yu In-chon and his Japanese counterpart Kazuyoshi
Kaneko met in Tokyo and issued a joint statement pledging increased tourism and
cultural cooperation, the officials said.
Seoul and Tokyo launched a joint tourism promotion project in 2005 amid the
so-called Korean Wave, when South Korean pop-culture surged across Asia.
Yu, the first culture minister to visit Japan since South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak took office a year ago, is on a three-day trip that began Thursday to
promote Korea-Japan tourism exchanges. Yu is scheduled to attend a number of
events and will hold press briefings during his stay.
South Korea hopes to attract 2.5 million Japanese visitors this year, a 12
percent rise from the previous year, despite the ongoing global economic
downturn.
While the number of outbound South Korean travelers and students studying abroad
fell sharply last year on a weakened won, the sliding currency has brought an
increase in Japanese and other foreign visitors to the country over the past few
months, according to state data.
The number of outbound travelers dropped 34 percent to 707,500 in November last
year from the previous year, while 579,000 foreign tourists visited the country,
up 3 percent. Inbound travelers spent US$1.06 billion, up 67 percent from $636
million a year earlier.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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