Read these reviews before adding South Korea to your bucket list
South Korea is attracting foreign tourists at a record pace, but some of those visitors are finding that the hardest part of the trip can come after they land. Authorities admitted that tourists have already voiced more grievances than the whole of last year’s total.
The Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) recorded 1,753 negative testimonies between January and July, compared with 1,744 for all of 2025, Yonhap news agency reported on Monday. Foreign visitors accounted for 84.3% of the complaints.
The list of complaints is revealing for a country that is selling itself on K-pop, food, shopping, and increasingly popular city breaks. Visitors are not primarily objecting to South Korea itself but to the small moments when a highly polished holiday becomes unexpectedly awkward or expensive.
Accommodation is biggest headache
In 2026, South Korea is trying to persuade more people to come, but hotels and other accommodation providers generated the largest number of complaints, with 500 in total. Many involved hotels unilaterally cancelling bookings or charging visitors excessive cancellation fees.
That problem can become particularly visible when demand spikes around major events. Yonhap noted complaints from visitors attending BTS concerts when accommodation demand surged.
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The country received 10.71 million international visitors in the first half of 2026, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, with particularly strong growth from Europe and the Americas.
Grumpy shops and bumpy rides
The next largest category was unfriendly service and overcharging in shops, with 376 complaints. A further 186 complained about airport and airline services. There were 182 complaints about taxis, including drivers refusing to use metres or driving recklessly.
Taxi problems are not a new discovery for Seoul, and the city has spent years trying to deal with cases in which foreign passengers are overcharged or refused rides.
Between June and December 2025, its dedicated QR complaint system received 487 complaints from foreign passengers, with unfair fares being the most common complaint. Seoul then made receipts and fare information more understandable in English.
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