The number of foreign travelers to South Korea surged by sevenfold in April from a year earlier on eased travel restrictions amid efforts to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, data showed.

A total of 889,000 foreign travelers visited South Korea last month, up nearly 600 percent from the 128,000 tallied in the same month last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Tourism Organization.

The monthly figure also accounted for 54 percent of 1.6 million tallied in April 2019, before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some 128,000 travelers from Japan visited South Korea last month, up 5,651 percent from a year ago, followed by 109,000 American visitors, up 252 percent on-year. (Yonhap)