SEOUL - The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea rebounded last month after falling for the past year, a government report showed Tuesday.

The number of Chinese travelers visiting South Korea was 428,000 in March, up 16.5 percent from a month earlier, according to the Ministry of Justice. It was up 13 percent from a year ago.

It marked the first time in 13 months that the figure topped 400,000. After peaking at 614,000 in February last year, the Chinese tourists to South Korea continued to fall.

However, the number recovered this year, rising from 322,000 in January to 367,000 in February.

Helped by the rising Chinese people's entrance in South Korea, the number of foreign travelers visiting the country reached 1,398,000 in March, up 29.7 percent from the previous month. It was up 11.4 percent from a year ago.

The number of foreigners staying here totaled 2,254,000 in March, up 5.7 percent from the previous month. It was up 10.9 percent from the same month of last year.

Among the total foreigners staying here, the people of Chinese nationality accounted for 45.7 percent, followed by those of Vietnamese and Thai nationalities taking up 7.9 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.

The foreign students studying here stood at 151,000 in March, surpassing 150,000 for the first time. Chinese students kept the top post, accounting for 47.3 percent of the total.