The "Tourist Complaint Center" website has been launched so foreigners can report any illegal, wrongful or unkind acts they see or experience during their trip to Korea. / Screen capture from the Tourist Complaint Center



By Lee Jin-a

Foreign tourists in Korea can now lodge complaints on a government website that was launched Monday.

The "Tourist Complaint Center," operated by the Korea Tourism Organization, allows foreigners to report any illegal, wrongful or unkind acts they experience or see while touring the country.

Until recently, foreigners were only able to report such cases via phone, email or postcards. But they can now submit complaints through the website and receive real-time notification of the progress of their cases.

The national tourism organization said the Tourist Complaint Center, which provides services in English, Chinese and Japanese, will offer services in Russian, Malay, Arabic, Indonesian and Thai by next year.

"Increasing the number of foreign tourists who make a return visit to Korea is as important as increasing the number of foreign tourists who make their first visits to Korea," an official at the Korea Tourist Organization said. "We will put more effort into promoting the website and improving the quality of our service."

The website is available at touristcomplaint.or.kr.