THE WAY IT LOOKS

SEOUL: SOUTH KOREA RESUMED tours to North Korea, following earlier tensions and bickering triggered by a South Korean visitor allegedly preaching defection to a North Korean guide. Hundreds of tourists lined up last week for places on the landmark tours operated by Hyundai Group, which agreed to form a six- to 18-member committee to discuss serious violation of North Korean laws by South Korean tourists.

JAKARTA: THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT raised foreign arrival targets to 5 to 5.5 million for 1999, based on a tourism boost following calm June elections. Previous forecasts for the year were 3.9 to 4.4 million. The year's first semester showed 10 per cent growth over the same period last year, said director general of tourism I Gede Ardika. Arrivals through Indonesia's 13 documenting points to the end of June showed 1.86 million foreign arrivals, compared to 1.7 million last year. In June, 308,348 foreigners arrived, a 20 per cent increase over 1998. May had the highest volume increase at 23 per cent, attributed to foreign journalists who covered the June elections and United Nations officials conducting East Timor's August independence ballot. Bali retained the number one gateway status, with 683,083 foreign arrivals in six months, 32 per cent higher than last year. Jakarta arrivals declined 18 per cent for the first semester due to business drop.

- Debe Campbell, Jakarta