A South Korean tourist was reportedly bitten on the arm by a monkey at India's Taj Mahal, a world-renowned cultural heritage site and famous tourist destination, and had to wait for an ambulance for about an hour despite complaining of pain.

According to outlets including India Today and The Indian Express on the 30th (local time), a South Korean tourist, identified as A, was attacked by a monkey on the 26th at the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, northern India.

A video posted on social media shows the South Korean tourist holding their bleeding arm, which was injured by the monkey, and moving to a nearby clinic under the guidance of locals.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Indian heritage management agency, notified the health authorities of the incident, but an ambulance failed to arrive at the scene for an hour, India Today reported.

Ultimately, tourist A received first aid at a health center and then took an auto-rickshaw, a three-wheeled taxi, to a nearby private hospital.

Qalandar, a Taj Mahal official, explained to India Today, "As soon as we learned that a South Korean tourist had been attacked by a monkey, the ASI team arrived at the scene."

He stated that an ambulance was called immediately, but the driver failed to reach the site for an hour.

Qalandar noted that he regarded this as a serious lapse and prepared a report detailing the ambulance delay, which was then submitted to the medical authorities so that appropriate action could be taken.

An official from the South Korean Embassy in India said, "No report was filed with the embassy on the day of the accident," adding, "We learned about the details through an acquaintance of the victim after seeing local media reports."

Recently, another video has been spreading online showing multiple monkeys playing in a pond within the Taj Mahal gardens.

In fact, monkeys and stray dogs have been steadily increasing at the Taj Mahal recently, and the ASI explained that it had notified the Agra authorities about this a month ago.

The ASI added that it had requested the Agra authorities in a letter to capture the monkeys and stray dogs, but no particular action has been taken so far.

Indian netizens pointed out that "there is a need to regulate animals more strictly (at tourist sites)" or that "basic infrastructure such as first-aid facilities is lacking (at tourist destinations)."

The Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is built of beautiful white marble and is considered one of the most extravagant tombs in the world.

Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned its construction in 1631 to commemorate his queen, Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth, and it was completed 22 years later.

More than 800,000 foreign tourists visit the Taj Mahal every year, and when including domestic Indian tourists, the annual number of visitors reaches millions.

(Photo: Yonhap News)