China is again using tourism as a political bargaining tool and has blocked all charter flights to South Korea from China in January.
The South Korean government and airline representatives met on Tuesday to discuss ‘measures’ to take in response.
South Korean finance minister Yoo Il-ho said officials will look at whether China’s decision is related to their opposition to the US anti-missile system (THAAD) being deployed in South Korea.
China believes the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense radar system can be used for espionage.
Applications for at least eight charter flights in January and several in February were rejected by China.
These include extra flights put on by the carriers to meet demand for the busy Chinese New Year holidays.
Charter traffic makes up about 5% of all inbound tourism to South Korea, according to the Korea Tourism Organisation.
Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air all said their charter flight applications were rejected without a specific reason given.
China has already placed unofficial tourism industry sanctions on South Korea.
Local reports last year stated the government had ordered travel companies to reduce capacity to South Korea by 20%.
