South Korea’s deficit in tourism has surged amid what appears to be retaliatory moves by China over Seoul’s decision to deploy the U.S. antimissile system THAAD.
 
According to the Bank of Korea on Wednesday, the nation’s travel account deficit amounted to one-point-36 billion U.S. dollars in May, a five-fold increase from the same month last year.
 
It marks the largest travel deficit in 22 months since July 2015 when the nation was hit by the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
 
South Korea’s tourism revenue fell to 930 million dollars, 54 percent of the amount recorded in May last year. By contrast, overseas spending by South Korean tourists jumped 320 million dollars to nearly two-point-three billion dollars during the same period.
 
A financial statistics director at the central bank said that the increased travel deficit can be attributed to a rise in the number of outbound tourists and a dropping number of Chinese travelers amid South Korean travel bans by Beijing.