Beijing effectively banned group tours to Korea because Seoul deployed the THAAD anti-missile system, but more and more Chinese are coming to the island on their own, not as part of a big group. And now, a growing number of unregistered travel agencies is sprouting up to accommodate them. Mike Balfour reports.

A Chinese social media web page specializes in travel services.

When the words "Jeju island" are put in the search box, there are about 800 tour listings.

Fees of tour programs and information on vehicles also appear.

As more and more individual tourists are using social media to choose tour programs, crimes using online services are growing.

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Police have caught 65 offenders so far this year

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency caught 65 offenders this year.


So far, 22 unregistered travel agencies and 17 unregistered transportation businesses have been counted.

That's three times more compared with the year of 2016 before Seoul deployed the THAAD anti-missile system.


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Unregistered travel agencies sell packages through social media

Most of the unregistered travel agencies advertise their tour programs through social media and are Chinese operations.

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Non-commercial vehicles used for transportation

The transportation businesses also use vehicles that are not registered for commercial purposes.

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Offenders deceive police

The illegal businesses avoid prosecution by pretending the operators and clients are families or friends.

INTERVIEW
Lee Seung-cheol / Tourism dept., Jeju Municipal Police
When the offenders are caught, they pretend that they are relatives of the clients. I worry that the offenses will get more sophisticated as the crackdown goes on.
<인터뷰 : 이승철 / 제주도자치경찰단 관광경찰과>
"(단속에 걸려도) 친척이라고 해서 빠져나갔었고, 단속을 계속 하다보면 범죄도 점점 지능화되기 때문에 다른 변종의 형태가 될까봐 우려됩니다."

[Reporter] Mike Balfour
[Camera] Kim Yong-min

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency has prosecuted the 65 offenders and notified their offences to relevant administrative organizations.

It is planning to beef up the crackdown on illegal travel business.

Mike Balfour, KCTV