LAOANG, Northern Samar -- South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Han Dong-Nam said they are committed to bringing more tourists to the country despite the closure of Boracay, one of the most preferred destinations of Koreans.

Han said during the road project groundbreaking here Thursday,

May 31, that they will bring at least two million Korean tourists to the Philippines this year to visit world-class sites and increase their contribution to the economy.

“I promised him to bring two million tourists to the Philippines every year and increase tourist receipts from USD15 billion to USD20 billion,” Han said.

South Koreans were the top visitors of the country in 2017 based on Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Bureau of Immigration records.

Around 1.6 Korean tourists visited the country in 2017 with Boracay and Cebu as their favorite destinations. Trailing behind are Chinese and Japanese tourists.

The DOT is targeting to achieve 7.4 million tourist arrivals this year, higher than the 6.5 million target in 2017. The country welcomed 6.6 million tourists in 2017, higher than the 5.97 million in 2016.

According to Han, they will continue to strengthen the relationship between his country and the Philippines by improving the business climate in the country as well.

“Every time I met Korean businessmen I always tell them to invest, invest, invest in the Philippines to support President (Rodrigo) Duterte’s Build! Build! Build! program,” Han added.

“I always tell them that this is the right time to repay the Philippines for what the country did to our country by helping us during the great Korean War,” he added. (PNA)