Korea logged 1,753 visitor complaints in Jan-Jul 2026, already beating all of 2025. Taxis, shopping overcharges and hotel fees lead. What Indian travellers should do.
Cover image: tourists crowding Myeongdong shopping street in Seoul — photo by Christian Bolz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Foreign visitors filed 1,753 tourism complaints in South Korea between January and July 2026, already overtaking the 1,744 cases recorded in all of 2025. The figures, compiled by the Korea Tourism Organization and reported on September 6, mark an unprecedented peak in grievances even as the country's inbound boom continues.
Complaint volumes fell during the Covid-19 pandemic but have risen steadily since 2023, reaching 1,744 last year. With five months of 2026 still uncounted, this year is on course to set a record by a wide margin. For Indian travellers, who need a visa for Korea and often plan the trip as a once-in-a-few-years splurge, the patterns behind the numbers are worth knowing before booking. Our guide to whether Indians need a visa for South Korea covers the entry side; this is the on-the-ground side.
Where are tourists complaining most in Korea?
Seoul recorded the most complaints at 665, followed by the southeastern metro region around Busan with 594, Incheon with 176 and Jeju with just 15. The geography tracks visitor flows: the capital's shopping districts and the southeast's beach and event calendar concentrate both tourists and friction points.
Jeju's low count is notable. The island draws huge numbers yet generates few formal complaints, possibly because its resort-style itineraries involve fewer haggling touchpoints than a Seoul shopping street. Travellers mapping a first Korea itinerary can pair this with connectivity news such as Korean Air's returning Seoul Melbourne flights for a sense of how capacity to the region is evolving.
What are visitors complaining about?
Four repeat offenders dominate. Reckless taxi driving and overcharging tops the list, an old complaint that app-based rides have only partly tamed. Overcharging at shopping malls, particularly in tourist-heavy retail zones, comes next. Excessive accommodation cancellation fees round out the commercial grievances, with guests reporting penalties far beyond the nightly rate at stake.
Big events add spikes. The data period covers crushes around major concerts, including shows by K-pop supergroup BTS, where lodging, transport and merchandise disputes multiply. Event-driven travel compresses demand into a few days, and prices and tempers both rise.
What should Indian travellers do differently?
Three precautions cut most of the risk. First, use metered or app-hailed taxis and photograph the plate and meter at the start of the ride; disputes without evidence go nowhere. Second, check prices against a second shop in tourist markets before paying, and keep every receipt. Shopping complaints succeed or fail on paperwork.
Third, read the cancellation terms before paying for accommodation, not after. Korean lodging cancellation fees are the single most avoidable grievance in the data: a two-minute read at booking time beats a two-month complaint later. Where a hotel stay goes wrong, escalate through the booking platform first, then the Korea Tourism Organization's tourist complaint channels, with dates, amounts and receipts attached.
Will Korea fix the problem?
The surge has prompted appeals for measures to improve tourism services, targeting retail overcharging, taxi conduct and lodging fee disputes during big events. Whether that becomes enforceable rules or another awareness campaign is the open question. Korea wants the inbound boom to continue, and complaint counts this high are a reputational tax on exactly the high-spending visitors it courts.
For now, the practical read is simple. Korea remains a safe, well-run destination, but its complaint curve says the visitor experience has rough edges at peak pressure points. Travel informed, keep receipts, and the odds stay firmly in your favour.
Frequently asked questions
How many tourist complaints has Korea received in 2026?
1,753 complaints were filed nationwide between January and July 2026, according to Korea Tourism Organization data, already exceeding the 1,744 cases reported in the whole of 2025.
Which city gets the most tourist complaints in Korea?
Seoul leads with 665 complaints in the January to July 2026 period, followed by the southeastern metro region with 594, Incheon with 176 and Jeju with 15.
What do tourists complain about most in South Korea?
Taxi overcharging and reckless driving, overcharging at shopping malls, excessive hotel cancellation fees and problems during major events such as big K-pop concerts are the leading causes cited in the KTO data.
Is South Korea safe for Indian tourists?
Korea is generally safe, and complaints are commercial rather than criminal: fares, prices and fees. Indians should use app-hailed taxis, keep shopping receipts, read hotel cancellation terms before paying and route disputes through booking platforms and KTO complaint channels.
