Korea’s beaches seeing a drop in number of visitors this summer

A prolonged rainy season and coronavirus concerns have resulted in a drop of visitors to the country’s beaches this summer.

According to Yonhap, some 250 beaches here saw the accumulated number of visitors over the period reach 8.1 million as of Monday, plunging from 18.55 million posted a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The country’s 21 most popular beaches saw their average daily number of visitors drop over 50% to 12,000 from 28,000 in 2019.

“We expect the number of visitors at beaches to rebound in August in sync with the summer vacation season,” the ministry said in a statement, requesting travelers to follow basic distancing guidelines and wear masks.

The country’s top beaches have mandated everyone to wear masks on the main beaches until August 15 or face up to a 3 million won fine.

Five beaches in Busan — Haeundae, Songjeong, Dadaepo, Songdo, and Gwangalli are also affected by the ordinance.