The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO; ) is an organization of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It is commissioned to promote the country's tourism industry.
The KTO was established in 1962 as a government-invested corporation responsible for the South Korean tourism industry according to the International Tourism Corporation Act. The organization promotes Korea as a tourist destination to attract foreign tourists. Starting in the 1980s, domestic tourism promotion also became a function of the KTO.
Inbound visitors totaled over 6 million in 2006 and the tourism industry is said to be one of the factors that has some influence on the Korean economy.
History 1961: The Tourism Promotion Law is enacted. 1962: The International Tourism Corporation (ITC) is established to promote South Korea’s tourism industry through the management of major hotels, taxis and the Korea Travel Bureau, as well as by training human resources to support the travel trade. 1968: The number of foreign visitors passes 100,000. 1969: The Hotel Institute is opened. The first overseas office opens in Tokyo. 1971: Development of Bomun Lake Resort in Gyeongju begins. 1977: London office opens in the UK. 1978: Korea attracts over one million foreign visitors. 1982: The International Tourism Corporation is renamed the Korea National Tourism Corporation (KNTC). 1988: The number of foreign visitors surpasses two million. 1991: The number of foreign visitors passes three million. 1996: The company's name is changed from Korea National Tourism Corporation to Korea National Tourism Organization. 1998: Kumgangsan Diamond Mountains tour begins. 2000: Korea attracts five million foreign visitors. 2003: Kumgangsan Diamond Mountains land route tour begins. Hallyu (Korea Wave) becomes the major theme of the KTO's overseas marketing. United States branch offices issue newsletter bulletins; offices are in Los Angeles and New York City. 2005: KTO reshuffles its organizational structure into six divisions. KTO introduces its new corporate identity. Korea attracts 6.5 million visitors from abroad. 2023: HiKR Ground tourism center opens in Seoul.
Leadership + List of Officeholders Generation Name (Hangeul / Hanja) Term of Office 1st Shin Du-yeong (신두영 / 申斗泳) April 30, 1962 – April 14, 1963 2nd Lee Won-woo (이원우 / 李元雨) April 15, 1963 – January 17, 1964 3rd Oh Jae-kyung (오재경 / 吳在璟) January 28, 1964 – June 11, 1965 4th Kim Il-hwan (김일환 / 金一煥) June 12, 1965 – March 23, 1970 5th Jang Seong-hwan (장성환 / 張盛煥) March 24, 1970 – January 28, 1971 6th Ahn Dong-jun (안동준 / 安東濬) June 17, 1971 – July 25, 1972 7th Lee Han-rim (이한림 / 李翰林) July 26, 1972 – January 28, 1974 8th Kim Jwa-gyeom (김좌겸 / 金佐謙) March 13, 1974 – March 12, 1980 9th Hwang In-seong (황인성 / 黃寅性) March 13, 1980 – December 2, 1980 10th Ha Dae-don (하대돈 / 河大敦) June 1, 1981 – October 15, 1986 11th Lee Gye-ik (이계익 / 李啓謚) April 2, 1986 – March 16, 1989 12th Jo Young-gil (조영길 / 趙英吉) March 17, 1989 – April 1, 1993 13th Ji Yeon-tae (지연태) April 2, 1993 – January 7, 1995 14th Kim Tae-yeon (김태연 / 金泰淵) January 9, 1995 – December 27, 1996 15th Lee Gyeong-mun (이경문 / 李庚文) December 28, 1996 – March 25, 1998 16th Hong Du-pyo (홍두표 / 洪斗杓) April 10, 1998 – June 3, 1999 17th Lee Deok-ryeol (이득렬 / 李得洌) June 26, 1999 – May 16, 2000 18th Jo Hong-gyu (조홍규 / 趙洪奎) June 1, 2000 – May 31, 2003 19th Yu Geon (유건 / 柳健) June 18, 2003 – January 14, 2005 20th Kim Jong-min (김종민 / 金鍾民) March 29, 2005 – May 8, 2007 21st Oh Ji-cheol (오지철 / 吳志哲) November 2, 2007 – May 30, 2009 22nd Lee Cham (이참 / 李參) July 30, 2009 – November 15, 2013 23rd Byeon Chu-seok (변추석 / 卞秋錫) April 4, 2014 – April 6, 2015 24th Jeong Chang-su (정창수 / 鄭昌洙) August 11, 2015 – January 19, 2018 Acting Kang Ok-hee (강옥희) January 20, 2018 – May 16, 2018 25th An Young-bae (안영배 / 安榮培) May 17, 2018 – May 26, 2022 Acting Shin Sang-yong (신상용) May 27, 2022 – October 7, 2022 26th Kim Jang-sil (김장실 / 金長實) October 7, 2022 – January 12, 2024 Acting Seo Young-chung (서영충) January 12, 2024 – Present
Honorary ambassadors
KTO appoints globally-known South Korean figures as honorary ambassadors for their annual campaigns. They have included: BTS, boy group (2022) Lee Jung-jae, actor (2023) NewJeans, girl group (2024) Park Bo-gum, actor (2025)
Separate from the annual campaigns, Cha Eun-woo was appointed as the honorary ambassador for the "2023–2024 Visit Korea Year", a national tourism initiative. In this capacity, he participated in the launching ceremony of the K-Tourism Cooperation Group alongside then-First Lady Kim Keon-hee and Chairperson Lee Boo-jin.
See also
Seoul Tourism Organization
References
External links VisitKorea (KTO) homepage