Foreign spending in Korea hits fresh high in May

BTS fans arrive in Busan for BTS' "ARIRANG" world tour concert, June 11. Yonhap

Monthly spending by foreign tourists in Korea reached a record high of over 1.4 trillion won ($911 billion) in May, marking the third consecutive month foreign spending surpassed 1 trillion won, data showed Sunday.

Credit card spending by inbound travelers came to 1.41 trillion won last month, up 73.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).

Spending by foreign travelers surpassed 1 trillion won for the first time in March, as global fans of K-pop megastar BTS flocked to Seoul to watch the boy group's comeback performance at Gwanghwamun Square.

It hit another record high in April as BTS kicked off its world tour "ARIRANG" in Goyang, northwest of Seoul.

The record-high figure posted in May despite the absence of BTS concerts suggests Korea's tourism sector has entered a more stable phase, local experts noted.

By sector, shopping accounted for the largest share at 39.1 percent of foreign spending, followed by "beauty wellness" at 21.1 percent, fashion at 14.3 percent, and "lifestyle food" at 11.9 percent, among others.