Foreign tourists shop at the Lotte duty-free store in Myeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday afternoon. The number of foreign visitors to Seoul in the first half of this year climbed more than 20 percent from the same period last year to 8.23 million, while their credit card spending in the city surged more than 50 percent to 5.62 trillion won ($3.42 billion). A Seoul Metropolitan Government official said both tourist numbers and spending "set all-time records for a first half."
pangbin@heraldcorp.com
