The Consulate General of South Korea in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province has issued a notice suspending the acceptance of visa applications from many Chinese travel agencies in the three provinces of Northeast China.
Issued in late March, the notice said that the consulate general will not accept visa applications from a list of 52 travel agencies starting on April 18, according to the consulate's website.
The consulate did not specify the reason for the notice, which also listed travel agencies that it declared are still eligible for visa application services.
On Monday, the South Korean government announced that it will suspend visa application services for any Chinese travel agency engaged in travel to North Korea in a push to control the north's main source of foreign income, tourism, Korea Joongang Daily reported Tuesday.
The policy has been or will shortly be carried out in all of South Korea's consulates in China, the report noted.
A Heilongjiang-based travel agency that is on the consulate's list of suspended companies and that has business in both North and South Korea confirmed with the Global Times on Tuesday that they had received the notice from the consulate general.
"As of now, our business has not been affected," said an agency staff member surnamed Zhang, adding that they have not yet determined their future plans.
In late March, Chinese travel agencies were told to choose to conduct business either with South or North Korea, an employee surnamed Liu from Heilongjiang Letian International Travel Agency, which is on the consulate's eligible list, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Tourism exchanges between China and South Korea have grown rapidly in recent years. In 2015, an estimated 6.11 million Chinese visited South Korea, accounting for over 40 percent of the country's total foreign visitors, China Central Television reported.
Chinese visitors also contributed $22 billion to South Korea's economy in 2015, accounting for nearly 1.6 percent of the country's gross domestic product, Li Jinzao, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, said at the Beijing opening ceremony of the 2016 Korea Tourism Year in China.
