The Korea Tourism Organization's (KTO) New York office and United Airlines on Friday marked the launch of a new nonstop route between Newark and Incheon — the only such route currently offered by a U.S. carrier — in a welcome event at Newark Liberty International Airport. Newark Liberty International Airport, located in New Jersey near Manhattan, is one of three major airports serving the greater New York area, along with the John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, and serves as a key East Coast hub connecting roughly 200 cities in 60 countries. The new route comes amid a surge in American visitors to Korea, driven in part by the global popularity of Korean content. Arrivals from the U.S. rose about 37 percent in 2025 from a year earlier to 1.4 million, and roughly 810,000 Americans visited Korea in the first half of this year, up 10.9 percent from the same period in 2025, according to KTO figures. At the gate, passengers on the inaugural flight to Korea were greeted by KTO's tourism mascot characters and a performance by a fusion "gugak" (traditional Korean mus