The Seoul K-Medi Center, a public facility operated by Dongdaemun-gu in Seoul, has recently been bustling with foreign tourists.

The center served as the model location for the fictional HAN clinic visited by the main character of the girl group in the Netflix animated film “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” which has become a global sensation on the streaming platform. The center reported that foreign visitors, who numbered 451 in January, surged to 1,856 in July, more than four times higher, thanks in part to the craze of “K-Pop Demon Hunters.”

The Seoul K-Medi Center offers programs that allow visitors to experience traditional Korean medicine, including foot baths, massages, and natural packs, and it houses the Herb Medicine Museum. A traditional market nearby sells medicinal ingredients, attracting many foreign women in their 20s to 40s who enjoy individual tourism.

Another notable trend is the growing diversity of visitors. A center official said, “While Japanese tourists still account for around 60 percent, visits from the U.S., France, Switzerland, and Taiwan have increased compared to the past.”

The surge of foreign tourists seeking K-content experiences is not limited to the Seoul K-Medi Center. In July alone, the number of foreign visitors to Seoul reached 1.36 million, up 23.1 percent from the same month last year (1.1 million), marking a record high. This also represents an 18.2 percent increase compared with July 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, a total of 8.28 million foreign tourists visited Seoul from January to July this year, up 15.9 percent from the same period last year, setting a new record. By nationality, visitors came mainly from China (470,000), Japan (240,000), Taiwan (160,000), and the U.S. (100,000).

Seoul attributes the rise in tourists to a combination of factors, including diverse experience-based content favored by global Millennials and Generation Z travelers, digital-centered transport and accommodation infrastructure, and the city’s unique blend of tradition and modernity.

The global craze for “K-Pop Demon Hunters” has also boosted the number of tourists from Southeast Asia and the U.S. From January to July, the number of tourists visiting Seoul compared with the same period in 2019 increased the most from Singapore (64.4 percent), followed by Taiwan (44 percent), the U.S. (40.6 percent), and Indonesia (34.3 percent).

Thes city said that its “Seoul Tourism Future Vision” strategy, announced in 2023, which reflects global travel trends such as solo travel and immersive “No-Normal” experiences of local life, has helped strengthen its tourism base.

Seoul also highlighted the expansion of K-content experience tourism, development of infrastructure for convenient solo travel, year-round festivals aimed at creating a “Fun City,” and the promotion of local attractions throughout the city as key factors in attracting tourists.

Seoul has also received high praise from travel media. U.S.-based global travel magazine Trazy Travel ranked Seoul first for four consecutive years as the city most loved by Millennials and Generation Z. The world’s largest travel platform, TripAdvisor, named it the top city for solo travel, and Global Traveler magazine recognized it as the best leisure destination in Asia.