On June 23, 2026, Korean media outlet Seoul Economic Daily reported that South Korea's travel balance deficit with Japan updated its largest-ever record.

According to the article, statistics from the Bank of Korea's economic statistics system showed that last year's travel balance deficit with Japan was approximately 5.7 billion dollars (approximately 920 billion yen), marking the largest since statistics began. Travel balance refers to a part of the service balance in the balance of payments, calculated by subtracting the money spent by travelers abroad (expenditure) from the money spent by foreigners domestically (revenue). While spending by Koreans in Japan reached approximately 8.4 billion dollars (approximately 1.37 trillion yen), spending by Japanese in South Korea remained at approximately 2.7 billion dollars (approximately 440 billion yen), making the difference more than three times.

Koreans' travel expenditure has rapidly expanded in recent years; although it temporarily improved during the COVID-19 pandemic, it turned into a deficit again after the resumption of overseas travel and has continued to expand annually since then. In particular, compared to other major countries and regions, there continues to be an overwhelming concentration of travel to Japan. Last year, approximately 9.46 million South Korean tourists visited Japan, significantly exceeding pre-COVID levels. Meanwhile, the number of travelers from Japan to South Korea was approximately 3.65 million.

The article stated that "due to the weak yen, travel costs have decreased, and air routes have largely normalized after the COVID-19 pandemic, so the concentration of travel to Japan is expected to continue for the foreseeable future."

Regarding this, comments from Korean netizens included: "Travel to Japan offers good value for money," "Everyone around me is traveling to Japan, so I feel like I want to go, I have to go," "It's not so much that Japanese people don't come to South Korea, but that Koreans love Japan too much," "It used to be overseas travel, but now Japan feels like a neighboring town," "Weak yen, transportation, service. The reasons for Japan's popularity are simple," and "The increase in direct flights from regional airports has a big impact."

Additionally, comments such as: "When I see the hotel prices in South Korea, I feel like going abroad," "South Korean tourism also has its charms, but the acceptance environment needs to be improved further," "Rather than just looking at the travel balance and worrying, it's more important to analyze why people travel," and "Travel to Japan is easy for a casual weekend trip, and sometimes it's cheaper than domestic travel even including airfare," were also seen. (Translation/Editing by Higuchi)