A growing number of people are visiting the Dokdo islets in the East Sea by ferry after the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority on Wednesday, Dokdo Day, a total of 278-thousand-710 people visited the islets by ferry in 2022, a threefold increase from the previous year, and larger than the comparable pre-pandemic level of 260-thousand in 2019.

The number of visitors is rapidly increasing after plunging in the wake of the pandemic, having already reached 203-thousand so far this year with expectations that it will reach 250-thousand by the end of December.

The figure is likely to increase further next year as a local ferry company plans to launch a 500-ton high-speed craft between Ulleung Island and Dokdo in mid-March next year, providing two trips a day.

Last year, the number of ferry operations between Ulleung Island and Dokdo was 777 on four routes, well above the 284 in 2020 before a rebound to 408 the following year and a recovery to pre-pandemic levels last year.