The number of foreigners who visited South Korea for tourism in February stood at one-point-03 million, up 115 percent from a year earlier, returning to 86 percent of pre-pandemic levels recorded during the same month in 2019.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization(KTO) on Friday, the largest group of 344-thousand foreign tourists were from China, followed by 184-thousand from Japan, 97-thousand from Taiwan and 63-thousand from the United States.

While tourists from China and Japan had returned to 76 and 86 percent of pre-pandemic levels, respectively, those from the U.S. and Taiwan jumped eight-point-four and two-point-three percent from figures in 2019.

The cumulative number of visitors between January and February reached one-point-91 million, up 109-point-two percent year-on-year and 83 percent of the number recorded in the same period in 2019.

Meanwhile, two-point-51 million South Koreans traveled overseas last month, up 45-point-six percent year-on-year, rebounding to 96 percent of pre-pandemic levels.