A record number of foreign tourists has visited South Korea this year.
 
The Korea Tourism Organization(KTO) said Monday over 15 million foreign tourists visited the nation as of mid-November. Nearly 14-point-six million visited the nation as of the end of October, up some 33 percent from the same period last year. The number also surpassed the previous record of 14-point-two million for the same period in 2014.
  
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the KTO predict that the number of foreign tourists will total 17 million by the end of this year if the trend continues, exceeding the goal of 16-point-five million.  
 
By nationality, the number of Chinese tourists surged 40 percent to top seven million between January and October, compared to the same period last year. The tourism organization attributed the jump to a steady growth in individual travelers from China.