19 Chinese tourists go missing in South Korea

The group took a cruise ship from Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province on December 28 and arrived in Incheon Port in South Korea last Saturday.

However, they were reported missing after spending one night in a local hostel, Chinese state media quoted South Korean media reports as saying.

Online reports said all of them are male and from China's Shanxi Province, but the provincial tourism authority denied it yesterday.

It is reported that this is their first visit to South Korea, and their visas would allow them to remain there for up to 15 days.

South Korea's exit-and-entry department is investigating whether any middlemen were involved in the group's disappearance.

South Korean officials have also started tracing the group's whereabouts and have banned them from leaving South Korea.

Earlier, media reports said some Chinese travellers abandoned their tour groups and worked illegally in South Korea where one could earn far higher salaries than in China.