Will South Korea become a big tourist destination?

[Sofi32]

Short answer: No. Even Japan gets only 8 million tourists a year and is not a major tourist destination, let alone South Korea.

[ccm123]

Unlikely, for the immediate term. South Korea, despite it's efforts, pretty much remains a "closed" ethnocentric culture. No offense to anyone.

I have visited Seoul several times, for business and enjoyed it immensely, but they were not welcoming of me as a person. They were only interested in what I could bring them in terms of business (and revenue and profit).

[destinedtodave]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Yes. South Korea is everything that you say and is becoming increasingly less third world. I think it would be a fascinating place to visit! Add to that - we adopted one of our children from South Korea.

My daughter is boycotting South Korea due to their brutal tratment of animals - particularly digs and cats which are boiled and skinned alive.

Taking my daughter's lead and I'll pass that up until they stop that.

I spent a year teaching and living there. It's not 3rd world at all. Now, it's certainly not Western, although you'll find the familiar hallmarks of globalization.

As for dog/cat eating, I never once encountered it. It's something you have to seek out and most young Koreans don't eat them. I do know that they have a special breed of dog they raise for this purpose, however. Don't think that dogs and cats are just taken off of the street to be eaten-the vast majority of them are just simple pets like you'd find here.

I think boycotting the whole country for an increasingly less common practice is a bit of an overreaction. Korea will never be an exciting tourist destination, but they have a nice quality of life and it was a good place to live for a year.

[destinedtodave]

Originally Posted by yowps3

I've been to Japan, Sth Korea & China.

And Koreans easily were the most unwelcoming out of them. And Seoul is a city that I felt had no unique culture to it. I really cannot see Korea climbing the influential ladder.

What do you mean about Seoul not having culture? I think it's quite mono cultural, aside from a couple of enclaves., but that doesn't mean that it lacks culture.

[danielsa1775]

Originally Posted by destinedtodave

What do you mean about Seoul not having culture? I think it's quite mono cultural, aside from a couple of enclaves., but that doesn't mean that it lacks culture.

I agree, Seoul is full of culture - Korean Culture, and I actually like it for that fact.

[danielsa1775]

Originally Posted by destinedtodave

I spent a year teaching and living there. It's not 3rd world at all. Now, it's certainly not Western, although you'll find the familiar hallmarks of globalization.

As for dog/cat eating, I never once encountered it. It's something you have to seek out and most young Koreans don't eat them. I do know that they have a special breed of dog they raise for this purpose, however. Don't think that dogs and cats are just taken off of the street to be eaten-the vast majority of them are just simple pets like you'd find here.

I think boycotting the whole country for an increasingly less common practice is a bit of an overreaction. Korea will never be an exciting tourist destination, but they have a nice quality of life and it was a good place to live for a year.

I have seen a few, though as you stated they are not particularly common and usually they appear in out of the way sort of places, never have i heard of cat being on the menu.

My wife's grandparents who live in a rural area of the South Gyeongsang province usually keep a dog with the intention of eating it, though i doubt any of my wife's family in Seoul would have eaten dog for years.

Really i don't think Korea will ever become a big tourist destination, though their are still many things to do for such a small country, it's certainly deserving of a few more western tourists than it gets. Personally as a tourist I have never had any problems in Korea at all.