(FORTUNE Magazine) – The Japanese aren't the only Asians with a yen for international travel. Encouraged by stronger currencies and fewer travel restrictions, thousands of Taiwanese and Koreans are flocking overseas, and a host of businesses are cashing in on the tide. Last year, outbound Korean tourists more than quadrupled and their counterparts from Taiwan increased 48%. Principal destination: East Asia. Although many Koreans still resent the Japanese for their 36-year occupation, Japan as a tourist spot is as hot as kimchi. Says a perplexed official of the Japan National Tourist Organization: ''Every month the numbers are up 100% or more.'' More tourists are on the way. Seoul has been gradually loosening bans imposed on travel to keep foreign exchange in Korea, recently allowing the 30-something set to roam. Taiwanese travel to Hong Kong has more than tripled in the past six months compared with 1987. Many of the travelers are elderly lao bin, the loyal soldiers of the late Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-Shek. Using the crown colony as a port of entry, the vets troop onward to China for their first reunions with relatives in at least 38 years. The Taipei government lifted restrictions in October 1987 that forbade its residents from visiting the Communist mainland. The flood of won and New Taiwan Dollars translates into profits for U.S. aircraft makers. Since January 1987, government carriers China Airlines and Korean Air have ordered 17 Boeing 747s and ten McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. By year's end, Korea's Kum Ho group will launch a new airline, Asian International Airlines which will lease six Boeing 747s. Many Asian tourists also visit meikuo, or beautiful country, as the Taiwanese refer to America. Northwest Airlines has boosted capacity on trans- Pacific routes by 8.5%, and Delta has inaugurated a flight to Seoul in addition to its Taipei and Tokyo routes.F.H.K.

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