The amount of money Koreans spend overseas appears to be increasing.
Many factors are at play... but one of the biggest is the surge in the number of people traveling abroad.
Our Shin Se-min tells us more.
Koreans have been busy spending their money outside Korea,... amid a slump in domestic demand.

Koreans' total overseas credit card spending reached more than 12 billion dollars last year,... largely driven by a steady increase in the number of overseas travelers.
The steady rise in overseas travelers is largely attributed to a weak yen and low oil prices,... which drove down airline ticket prices and in turn boosted overseas spending.
Koreans spent a record amount of money on overseas travel in January,... breaking the previous record set last July.
The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that the amount was more than 1-point-9 billion U.S. dollars,... the highest recorded so far... and a 17-percent increase from the same month last year.
And experts say that it's not just high-income earners who are going overseas for vacations.


"A stronger infrastructure and cheaper flights have made overseas trips more accessible to a wider income group,... leading to more money being spent overseas as a result. And more travelers are taking advantage of the stronger currency and using it as an opportunity to go overseas,... mostly to Japan."

He said that while the Korean government can't stop Koreans from traveling overseas,... it needs to arrange more tour packages to draw both Korean and foreign visitors, and make them want to return for a second visit.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.