Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean are stopping their South Korean port visits in response to the advised received form the Chinese government, Reuters reported.

Royal Caribbean said it would remove its visits to South Korea and replace its destinations like Seoul, Busan and Jeju with ports in Japan. The company cited the "recent developments regarding the situation in South Korea" as reason for such move.

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According to Reuters, Royal Caribbean is "one of the first major travel firms to publicly stop or restrict trips to South Korea," after media reports revealed last week that Beijing had asked travel sellers to halt its Korean destinations.

Carnival's Costa Cruises also said it is working with tour operator partners to adjust its itinerary for its Chinese clients.  

"Cost Cruises will remove calls to South Korean ports for our upcoming cruises home ported out of China, replacing them with cruising at sea or calls to destinations in Japan," it said in a statement.

A document from the South Korean government seen by Reuters said that China gave a "7-point" verbal instructions to travel firms about the ban. One of the point banned China-based cruise ships from docking South Korean ports.

South Korea is facing pressure from Beijing after it agreed to set up the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system. For Washington and Seoul, the THAAD will only serve as a countermeasure against North Korea's ballistic missiles.

China and Russia, on the other hand, believe that the deployment would only destabilize the Korean Peninsula and THAAD's radar system could penetrate their territories and threaten their security.

TagsCarnival Corp, Royal Caribbean, Cruise Ship, THAAD, South Korea, china