The weakness of the Japanese yen led to a decrease in the number of Japanese tourists visiting South Korea in the first 11 months of last year, data showed Wednesday.

In the January-November period of 2013, 2.53 million Japanese tourists came to South Korea, down 23.1 percent from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea.

In June alone, the number of Japanese tourists to South Korea totaled 201,000, down 33.5 percent from the same period a year ago.

The sharp fall, especially between April and July last year, is mostly from the yen’s depreciation against the greenback, tourism industry sources said. During the period, the yen hovered above 103 to the dollar.

In contrast, more South Koreans are heading to Japan because of the weaker yen.

According to data from Japan’s justice ministry, the number of South Koreans visiting the country was tallied at 2.31 million in 2013, up 21 percent from the previous year to rank first among nations they traveled to. (Yonhap News)