Another large Chinese city has decided to lift its sales ban on package tour programs to South Korea amid the thawing relations between Seoul and Beijing.
The two sides fell out badly in 2016 over South Korea's deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
The rift over the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in South Korea had brought Chinese group tours to the South to a virtual halt since 2016 following Beijing's retaliatory sales ban.
However, it seems relations are finally beginning to normalize.
This, after a second Chinese city announced it was reopening group tour package program to South Korea.
China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism held a regional meeting in the southwestern city of Chongqing over the weekend to approve the decision.
It comes just a week after Wuhan, the sprawling capital of Hubei Province, became the first Chinese city to reopen sales of group tour packages to South Korea.
The neighboring countries began recovering bilateral exchanges in affected areas, including tourism, entertainment and other commercial sectors, following President Moon Jae-in's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in December last year.
In a sign things are steadily returning to normal,... the number of Chinese visitors to South Korea passed the 400-thousand threshold in March for the first time since February 2017.
Observers attribute the rising tourist numbers to an improvement in bilateral relations, coupled with South Korea's successful hosting of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.