Exodus of South Koreans expected pver 10-Day national holiday

Even many South Koreans are looking elsewhere for holiday relaxation at a time when talk of war on the Korean peninsula and China’s boycott has hit inbound tourism. President Moon Jae-in hoped to boost domestic spending by declaring Oct. 2 a one-time holiday, effectively extending the annual Chuseok holiday to 10 days. Yet South Koreans are booking more flights out of the country than they did last year -- and those extra days are likely one reason. Online travel agency Interpark Tour said purchases of airline tickets to overseas destinations have more than doubled compared with the same, shorter holiday in September 2016. “Usually overseas trips are mostly to nearby countries, but this time tickets to the US and Europe have accounted for about 40%,” said Frank Lee, a manager at Interpark’s public relations office, who noted that the number of travelers could still rise, given that the holiday was still more than two weeks away. South Koreans were traveling overseas more even before North Korea raised geopolitical tensions with its recent missile launches and a nuclear test. A record-setting 2.39m went abroad in July. <br/>