Number of Visitors Returns to Pre-MERS Levels

The number of foreign visitors has returned to levels seen before the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, the Justice Ministry said on Sunday.

A daily average of 39,000 people visited Korea in May, but that dropped below 30,000 in June, when MERS began to spread, and plummeted to 12,325 on June 25.

Usually in July, 36,000 to 40,000 foreigners visited daily, but this year there were only 20,000.

The MERS outbreak came to an end in August, and visitor numbers slowly recovered. More than 30,000 foreigners visited in mid-August, and over 40,000 in late August.