Korean Ruling Party Backs Initiative to Tax Foreign Tourists Visiting Seoul
The DPK is claiming that residents in Seoul are not seeing the benefits of the tourism boom and thus why a tax on foreign tourists is needed. This is a fabrication because all those tourists are staying in Seoul hotels, restaurants, and shopping at the stores there. This is all economic activity that is being taxed that benefits the residence of Seoul already:
The increasing number of international tourists visiting Korea has prompted calls to review the introduction of a tourist tax to cover local government expenses to address problems resulting from overtourism.
The idea was floated recently by Lee Dong-hyun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a candidate for head of Jung District in central Seoul, with party leaders also supporting the suggestion.
Lee has made an international tourist tax a centerpiece of his campaign pledges, promising to turn the tourism boom into benefits for residents.
“Jung District is the most visited district in Korea among foreigners, yet the burden of waste and noise falls entirely on residents,” Lee said during a Sunday campaign rally. “But not a single benefit from that prosperity flows back to our residents. I will absolutely open the floodgates of our district’s development through the introduction of a foreign tourist tax.”
You can read more at the link, but this is typical politics to where you propose a tax against people that have no say in it to appear to benefit the people that are voting for you. Over time the politicians continue to increase the tourism tax for more easy money. However, the benefit over time will collapse when international tourists don’t want to visit Seoul any more because it becomes too expensive.
