After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's “Taiwan contingency” remarks and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s visit to China, in the wake of the cooling China-Japan and warming China-South Korea relations, South Korea has overtaken Japan in both the first week and New Year holiday of 2026: it became the country with the most flights to and from China, as well as the destination with the highest year-on-year growth rate for Chinese outbound travelers.
According to Sing Tao Daily, citing data from a Chinese aviation platform, from December 29, 2025, to January 4, 2026 (the first week of 2026), among countries and regions with flights to and from China, South Korea ranked first with 1,012 flights (each counted as a round trip), followed by Thailand with 862, and Japan, though overtaken, still ranked third with 736 flights.
The report pointed out that the 1,012 flights with South Korea had already returned to 97.2% of the pre-pandemic peak seen in 2019.
Additionally, from December 30, 2025, to January 5, 2026, in terms of passenger throughput at Chinese airports, South Korea led with 331,000 person-times, a 30% annual increase; Thailand ranked second with 285,000, down 14% year-on-year; Japan was still third with 258,000, a 33% drop.
South Korea has also become the most popular outbound destination for Chinese travelers during the New Year’s holiday. According to Chinese travel platform Qunar, during the New Year holiday, outbound flight bookings to Seoul surged 3.3 times year-on-year, ranking first and making it the top choice for Chinese university students traveling abroad for New Year’s; bookings to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi increased 3.2 times and 2.4 times, respectively, ranking second and third, and are popular destinations for Chinese white-collar workers aged 23 to 30.
The report quoted analysis saying that shrinking demand from Chinese tourists for Japan has resulted in a spillover effect benefiting Korea. From January to November 2025, about 5.09 million Chinese tourists visited South Korea. Korean media predicts that Chinese visitors to Korea could reach 7 million this year.
At the end of 2024, China implemented visa-free entry for Korean citizens, and the Korean government will implement visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists in September 2025. According to statistics from the Korean Ministry of Justice, from January to November 2025, the two countries saw over 7.28 million cross-border visits, a year-on-year increase of 24.7%.