Chinese tour group to visit Jeju after THAAD row JEJU , South Korea , Jan . 22 ( Yonhap ) -- A Chinese school excursion group will visit South Korea ' s southernmost resort island of Jeju next week , a Chinese agency operating here said Monday , drawing attention over whether the trip will be a signal of the restarting of China ' s banned group tours to the country . The Chinese government banned sales of Korea - bound package tours in 2016 in retaliation against the deployment of a U . S . missile defense system , called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ( THAAD ) , on South Korean soil , claiming the system is a grave security threat to it . Amid the diplomatic uproar , the number of visitors from China nose - dived , with that in the January - November period registering a 49 . 1 percent drop from a year earlier , according to Korea Customs Office data . Chinese visitors accounted for nearly half of the 17 million foreigners who visited South Korea in 2016 . " The school excursion group will enter the country via Jeju Airport at 2 p . m . next Tuesday , " the agency under the Beijing - based Research and Travel Working Committee said . The group consists of 67 scholarship students and teachers from 24 elementary and middle schools in Beijing and the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Shanxi , it said . The group tour , if implemented , will be the first of its kind since Dec . 14 , when the leaders of the two countries agreed to resolve the THAAD controversy harmoniously at their summit in Beijing . During their five - day stay , the students will visit tourist attractions and take part in various education programs , including taekwondo and Korean food - making , the agency said . This file photo , taken March 2017 , shows a Jeju street , quiet since China ' s ban on sales of group tours to South Korea over THAAD . ( Yonhap ) ( END )