The number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea has surpassed the eight-million mark for the first time.

The Korea Tourism Organization(KTO) on Tuesday released a provisional estimate of the number of foreign tourists in the first half of the year, which stood at eight-point-one million. 

It marks a 21 percent increase from six-point-68 million tallied in the same period last year.

In particular, a record number of foreign tourists visited South Korea in June, which marked a new monthly high of one-point-54 million.

The number of Chinese tourists, who led the pack at three-point-eight million during the January to June period, grew 35 percent on-year, while the number of tourists from other Asian countries also rose sharply. 

The number of Vietnamese tourists jumped 46-point-three percent, and those of Indonesians and Indians both climbed 35-point-two percent.

Japanese tourists also rose for the first time in four years, growing ten percent to one-point-zero-four million.