Mainland tourists warned of risks in South Korea travel

China's top tourism authority has warned tourists of the risks regarding South Korea's change of its entry policy for Chinese citizens.

"The number of incidents involving Chinese citizens' entry to Jeju Island of South Korea has risen sharply recently. Some of them were denied entry and waited a long time at airports before they were repatriated, which has attracted wide public attention," said a statement on the website of the China National Tourism Administration on Friday.

It said the administration attached great importance to the matter.

The administration met with officials from the South Korean embassy in Beijing as well as officials from the country's cultural organizations and "lodged serious representations", said the statement.

The administration warned Chinese citizens to be aware of the risks of overseas trips and asked them to carefully choose their destinations.

It advised them to get to know the entry policy of South Korea and prepare documents as required.

"If you are caught in an emergency or unfairly treated or involved in a dispute, contact the local Chinese embassy or consulates immediately. Evidence of the matter should be gathered and saved in case complaints or legal suits are lodged in the future," the administration said.

Some tourist agencies in China have stopped providing tours to South Korea over the past week.

Wanzhong Tourism Travel Service issued a statement on Friday and canceled all South Korean tourism products.

"For those who had signed up and paid for the South Korean tours, we can arrange tours to other destinations or we will rearrange the tours after the tension in relations between China and South Korea have eased," the company statement said.

Guo Jinming, head of online sales of Wanzhong, said his company thought it was the right decision to cancel recent trips to South Korea and regarded it as a patriotic move by a tourist company, as South Korea has provided land to the US forces stationed to deploy the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.

Guo said his company is busy refunding clients and will cover all their losses from canceling the trips.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday that China adopts a positive and open attitude toward exchange and cooperation between China and South Korea.

"But this requires proper popular support and appropriate public opinion, as we have stated repeatedly," he told a daily press briefing in Beijing.

Contact the writers at zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn