The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that Myeong-dong Subway Station attracted the most foreign visitors.

According to the tally compiled by Seoul city over the last three years on foreigners’ use of metro cards, more than 14 million cards were issued to foreign visitors, equivalent to 7.9 percent of the total of 178 million cards issued.

Foreign visitors made around 93,000 trips to Myeong-dong per month, outpacing other stations.

Among the 14 million foreigners who purchased metro cards, 41 percent were English speakers, followed by Japanese (39 percent) and Chinese (20 percent).

Itaewon Station, Euljiro 1-ga Station and Seoul Station were high on the list, and Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station also stood out, with its recently renovated shopping centers luring Chinese tourists.

A growing number of Chinese tourists stopped at Ewha Womans University in western Seoul, a popular tour area. Chinese tourists purchased 29,000 metro cards at Ewha Women’s University Station this year, more than double the 13,000 metro cards issued during the January-June period last year.

Ewha began attracting Chinese tourists after China’s state broadcaster CCTV featured the university on its “Nine Tourist Attractions of Korea” list.

In 2009, Seoul city introduced a multilanguage metro card system, offering instructions in English, Chinese and Japanese.

By Kim Da-sol, Intern reporter
(dasolkim@heraldcorp.com)