韓國停止52家中國旅行社代辦簽證 或與朝鮮遊有關

The Consulate General of South Korea in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province has issued a notice suspending the acceptance of visa applications from many Chinese travel agencies in the three provinces of Northeast China.

近日，位於中國東北遼寧省瀋陽市的韓國駐華總領事館發佈了一項通知，將暫停東北三省多家中國旅行社代辦簽證的業務。

Issued in late March, the notice said that the consulate general will not accept visa applications from a list of 52 travel agencies starting on April 18, according to the consulate's website. The consulate did not specify the reason for the notice.

據領事館在3月底發佈的這項通知顯示，自4月18日起，總領事館將不再接受名單上52家旅行社的簽證申請。該領事館的這份公文並未說明暫停的原因。

On last Monday, the South Korean government announced that it will suspend visa application services for any Chinese travel agency engaged in travel to North Korea in a push to control the north's main source of foreign income, tourism, Korea Joongang Daily reported last Tuesday.

據韓國中央日報社上週二報道，韓國政府上週一宣佈，將暫停任何銷售朝鮮旅遊產品的中國旅行社的簽證申請服務，目的是控制朝鮮外匯的主要收入來源：旅遊項目。

The policy has been or will shortly be carried out in all of South Korea's consulates in China, the report noted.

該報道指出，所有韓國駐華領事館已經實施或者正在準備實施這項政策。

A Heilongjiang-based travel agency that is on the consulate's list of suspended companies and that has business in both North and South Korea confirmed with the Global Times that they had received the notice from the consulate general.

在暫停服務名單之內的一家黑龍江旅行社，同時經營着朝鮮和韓國的旅遊產品，經環球時報確認，他們確實收到了總領事館的通知。

"As of now, our business has not been affected," said an agency staff member surnamed Zhang, adding that they have not yet determined their future plans.

旅行社的員工張某說，“目前爲止，我們的業務並未受到影響。”此外，他還表示該旅行社尚未確定未來的發展計劃。

Tourism exchanges between China and South Korea have grown rapidly in recent years. In 2015, an estimated 6.11 million Chinese visited South Korea, accounting for over 40 percent of the country's total foreign visitors, China Central Television reported.

據中國中央電視臺報道，近年來中韓兩國的旅遊交流發展迅速。2015年約有611萬中國人去韓國旅遊，佔韓國外國遊客總數的40%。

Chinese visitors also contributed $22 billion to South Korea's economy in 2015, accounting for nearly 1.6 percent of the country's gross domestic product, Li Jinzao, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, said at the Beijing opening ceremony of the 2016 Korea Tourism Year in China.

在中國北京舉辦的2016韓國旅遊年開幕式上，中國國家旅遊局局長李金早表示，2015年中國遊客也爲韓國經濟貢獻了220億美元，約佔其GDP總量的1.6%。