China has reimposed a ban on tour groups visiting South Korea less than a month after easing restrictions in the run-up to President Moon Jae-in’s visit to Beijing last week, according to South Korean media reports.
In late November, South Korean state media reported that China’s National Tourism Administration would allow travel agencies in Beijing and Shandong province to sell package tours to South Korea, though it said that Beijing had stipulated that these packages should not include visits to any businesses linked to Lotte Group – the South Korean conglomerate that has agreed to host the US-built THAAD missile defense system on its golf course.
Now the Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo has reported that the ban, which was originally put in place to punish Seoul for deploying the defense system, has been back in full force as of Wednesday. The move comes less than a weekafter President Moon called for a “new era” in Sino-Korean relations, and just two months ahead of the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics, set to be held in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang in February, the Financial Times reports.
You must log in to post a comment.