"'Year of Visit Korea' Led by Mrs. Kim Geon-hee Turns Out to Be a Minus"

Failure Expected to Attract 20 Million Visitors to Korea This Year
"Will Question Thoroughly at the National Assembly Audit on the 15th," Warned

Kim Yoon-deok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Jeonbuk Jeonju-gap), claimed, "'Visit Korea Year' will rather result in negative outcomes by putting First Lady Kim Geon-hee at the forefront," and added, "The goal of attracting 20 million tourists to Korea in 2024, which Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon confidently promised, is practically expected to fail."

In a press release on the 13th, Rep. Kim stated, "According to data submitted by the Korea Tourism Organization, the total number of tourists visiting Korea from January to July this year was 9.1 million, and the Tourism Organization estimated 16.9 million tourists by the end of this year," adding, "This is an optimistic forecast by the Korea Tourism Organization, and it is highly likely that the number of tourists will not recover to the pre-COVID-19 level of 17.5 million in 2019."

At the opening event of the Korea Tourism Year Welcome Week held on April 6 at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1, Jang Mi-ran, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (from the left), Lee Hak-jae, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, and Lee Boo-jin, Chairperson of the Korea Tourism Year Committee, are handing out welcome kits to foreign tourists.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The number of foreign visitors to Korea over the past five years by year is ▲ 17.5 million in 2019 ▲ 2.519 million in 2020 ▲ 960,000 in 2021 ▲ 3.19 million in 2022 ▲ 11.03 million in 2023.

Rep. Kim criticized, "The tourism sector budget for 2024 is 1.3115 trillion won, an increase of 81.4 billion won or 6.6% compared to 2023," adding, "This is more than twice the government's average expenditure growth rate of 2.8% under the fiscal tightening policy, but the performance in attracting tourists is at a failing level despite the massive budget input." He also said, "The report card of the Visit Korea Year Committee, which appointed First Lady Kim Geon-hee as honorary chairperson, is also dismal." He continued, "In previous Visit Korea Years, the number of tourists steadily increased to some extent. First Lady Kim Geon-hee took the honorary chairperson position, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization mobilized all their capabilities. I want to ask what contribution the Visit Korea Year Committee and Promotion Team, whose performance is rather negative, have actually made." He further warned, "I will thoroughly scrutinize the budget execution details and performance of the Visit Korea Year Committee and Promotion Team at the National Assembly audit scheduled for the 15th."

Democratic Party of Korea Committee Member Kim Yoon-duk (Jeonju Gap, Jeonbuk) [Photo by Yonhap News]

Rep. Kim also diagnosed, "Except for a few areas such as the Seoul metropolitan area, Jeju, and Busan, the visitation rate of tourists by region is at the 1% level," adding, "Although budgets for revitalizing local tourism are steadily invested every year, the concentration of tourism in the metropolitan area shows no signs of improvement."

Meanwhile, First Lady Kim Geon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-youl, accepted the honorary chairperson position of the Visit Korea Year Committee last May at the request of Lee Boo-jin, chairperson of the Visit Korea Year Committee (President of Hotel Shilla). The Visit Korea Year Committee has traditionally appointed the president’s spouse as honorary chairperson when promoting the Visit Korea Year campaign. Past campaigns by the Visit Korea Year Committee include "Visit Korea Year 2010-2012" and "Visit Korea Year 2016-2018," and the committee is currently conducting activities for "Visit Korea Year 2023-2024."