Korean’s overseas card spending hits record high in first quarter

Overseas card spending by Koreans hit a fresh record high in the first quarter on rising outbound tourists, central bank data showed Thursday.

In the January-March period, a record $5.07 billion worth of purchases were made abroad, up 11.4 percent from three months earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. From a year earlier, the Q1 tally marked a 26 percent increase.