S. Korea expands special quarantine procedures to arrivals from all European countries

South Korea expanded its special quarantine procedures to arrivals from all European countries Monday over concerns about imported cases of the new coronavirus. The special screening measures at airports began to be applied to people coming from all European countries, up from the previous six -- Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Britain and the Netherlands -- at midnight. South Korea is also implementing similar measures for arrivals from China, Japan, Iran, Hong Kong and Macao. The expansion

March 16, 2020

FM Kang holds conference call with counterparts from 5 countries over coronavirus response

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held a conference call with her counterparts from Canada and four other countries to discuss cooperation in fighting the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said Monday. Kang and her Canadian, German, Brazilian, Italian and Australian counterparts -- Francois-Philippe Champagne, Heiko Maas, Ernesto Henrique Fraga Araujo, Luigi Di Maio and Maris Payne -- joined the 70-minute call Sunday night (Korea time). The talks were proposed by Canada, the ministry said.

March 16, 2020

US welcomes Moon’s proposal for G-20 video conference

The US has welcomed South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s proposal for leaders of the Group of 20 countries to hold a video conference to address the escalating coronavirus outbreak, according to Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday.  Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong spoke by phone with his US counterpart Robert O’Brien to discuss ways for the two allies to cooperate on handling COVID-19. During their conversation, Chung explained Moon’s idea for a special video

March 15, 2020

Tougher coronavirus quarantine procedures under way for visitors

South Korea began enforcing tougher anti-coronavirus quarantine procedures for travelers from France, Germany, Spain, Britain and the Netherlands on Sunday as the virus is spreading quickly through Europe. South Korea has been carrying out one-on-one fever checks and other special quarantine procedures for visitors from virus-hit countries, beginning with travelers from China on Feb. 4. Since then, the list has been expanded to include Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Italy and Iran. On Sunday, the f

March 15, 2020

137 countries, territories restricting entry from virus-hit S. Korea

A total of 137 countries and territories were imposing an entry ban or stricter quarantine procedures for travelers from coronavirus-hit South Korea on Sunday, up five from the previous day, the foreign ministry said. As of 2 p.m., 61 countries and territories were barring the entry of travelers who have been in Korea at least in the past two weeks, joined by Poland, Latvia, Norway and Ecuador. Poland imposed an entry ban on all foreigners who do not have residence permits starting Sunday. L

March 15, 2020

Top diplomats of S. Korea, Norway discuss coronavirus containment

The top diplomats of South Korea and Norway have discussed efforts to fight the novel coronavirus, the foreign ministry here said Saturday. During the telephone talks with her Norwegian counterpart, Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha stressed her country's far-reaching quarantine and disinfection efforts to contain the local spread of COVID-19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said. Kang also asked for the Norwegian government's cooperation in allowing necessary

March 14, 2020

Moon, Macron discuss coronavirus response in phone talks

The leaders of South Korea and France had phone discussions Friday on ways to cooperate in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Cheong Wa Dae said. Speaking with President Moon Jae-in for 35 minutes, France's President Emmanuel Macron expressed his "respect" for South Korea's "transparent and effective" response to the outbreak, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kang Min-seok. Macron requested that South Korea share its related experience with his country as it a

March 13, 2020

S. Korea, China hold video conference on fight against new coronavirus

South Korea and China on Friday held a working-level video conference on joint efforts to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, including ensuring the stable supply of face masks and other quarantine items, the foreign ministry said. Kang Sang-wook, the ministry's director-general for Northeast Asian affairs, and his Chinese counterpart Wu Jianghao led the conference, which also involved the two countries' health and other related officials. Kang said that South Korea has been carrying out

March 13, 2020

Foreign diplomats visit Incheon airport to observe S. Korea's quarantine procedures

Foreign diplomats visited Incheon International Airport on Friday to get a first-hand look at South Korea's quarantine procedures aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said. The visit to the main gateway to Seoul was organized to provide foreign countries with a deeper understanding of how Seoul's quarantine process against the novel virus is working, after more than 120 countries took steps to restrict the entry of travelers from Korea over coronavirus f

March 13, 2020

127 countries, territories restricting entry from coronavirus-hit S. Korea

A total of 127 countries and territories were imposing an entry ban or tougher quarantine procedures for people from South Korea over coronavirus fears Friday, up by four from the previous day, the foreign ministry said. As of 7 p.m., 52 countries and territories were barring the entry of travelers who have been in Korea at least in the past two weeks, joined by Honduras, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Sudan and Niue. Honduras began to impose an entry ban on foreigners from four virus-affected

March 13, 2020

FM says entry restrictions of S. Korea, Japan 'qualitatively different'

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday the entry restrictions South Korea enforced against Japan in the face of the new coronavirus concerns are "qualitatively different" from the immigration control measures Tokyo adopted against Seoul. Kang made the remarks during an interview with local broadcaster KBS, referring to Japan's 14-day quarantine order on South Koreans that took effect Monday amid the neighboring countries' protracted row over trade and wartime history. Tokyo

March 13, 2020

S. Korea, China to hold talks on cooperation against new coronavirus

South Korea and China will hold a video conference this week on possible cooperation to fight the new coronavirus, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday. During the talks on Friday, the two sides will share their experience combating COVID-19 and discuss ways to jointly stem the further spread of the new virus, according to the ministry. The planned meeting comes after President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to strengthen cooperation in their fight against the n

March 12, 2020

Chinese embassy provides 25,000 masks to Seoul city amid virus concerns

The Chinese Embassy in South Korea said Thursday it has provided 25,000 masks to the Seoul city government amid concerns over possible mass transmission of the new coronavirus in the metropolitan area. In a letter to Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, China's top envoy to Seoul, Xing Haiming, said the masks are in return for the help Seoul provided when the COVID-19 situation was at its worst in China, according to the embassy. Earlier, the Seoul city government provided 600 million won ($497,100) w

March 12, 2020

Foreign diplomats to visit Incheon airport for first-hand look at S. Korea's quarantine efforts

About 20 foreign diplomats will visit Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, this week to take a first-hand look at South Korea's all-out efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, officials said Thursday. Friday's visit comes against a backdrop of more than 120 countries imposing entry bans or stricter quarantine measures for visitors travelling from South Korea, which has so far reported 7,869 confirmed cases with 66 deaths. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha proposed the vis

March 12, 2020

123 countries, territories restricting entry from S. Korea over coronavirus concerns

A total of 123 countries and territories were restricting entry or enforcing tougher quarantine measures for people from South Korea over coronavirus concerns on Thursday, the foreign ministry said. As of 2 p.m., 47 countries and territories were planning to impose or were enforcing an entry ban on people who have been in Korea at least in the past two weeks. Malaysia was moved to this list as it was expanding the scope of its entry ban from parts of Korea to the entire country, effective fro

March 12, 2020

Trump says US may reevaluate travel warning on S. Korea

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration may reevaluate the US travel warning on South Korea as the coronavirus situation in the country improves. Trump made the remark during an address to the nation held at the White House, after announcing a ban on travel from Europe, except the United Kingdom, to the United States for 30 days starting Friday at midnight. "At the same time we are monitoring the situation in China and South Korea, and as their sit

March 12, 2020

Foreign countries begin granting businesspeople exceptions to entry restrictions on S. Koreans: ministry

A few countries have allowed in businesspeople from South Korea in exceptions to their coronavirus entry restrictions, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday, pledging greater efforts to make such exceptions a standard practice. The ministry said earlier that the government is in consultations with some 20 countries to explore ways to allow entry for at least businesspeople seeking to travel overseas for work, on the condition that they are cleared of symptoms. Such countries possibly i

March 11, 2020

S. Korea to apply strict quarantine screening on arrivals from virus-hit Italy, Iran

South Korea said on Wednesday that it will apply strict quarantine screening to entrants from COVID-19-hit Italy and Iran in addition to those arriving from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao. Starting from midnight, passengers from the two countries grappling with spiking outbreaks of the novel coronavirus will be required to write a special quarantine report, answering questions about whether they have a fever or respiratory problems. Since February, South Korea has been adopting enhanced

March 11, 2020

116 countries, territories restricting entry from coronavirus-hit S. Korea

A total of 114 countries and territories were imposing entry restrictions or tougher quarantine procedures for people from South Korea over coronavirus concerns on Wednesday, as a few more nations in Africa and the Caribbean have joined the list. As of 3 p.m., 43 countries and territories were barring the entry of travelers who have been in South Korea, China, Japan and other virus-hit countries, up from the previous day's tally of 40, according to the foreign ministry website. The Bahamas ha

March 11, 2020

Harris praises S. Korea's anti-coronavirus airport

US Ambassador Harry Harris visited Incheon International Airport on Wednesday to see how fever checks on US-bound passengers are going, praising the process as "the exemplar around the world." Harris visited a boarding gate in the Second Terminal of the airport, west of Seoul, and observed officials taking the temperatures of passengers of an Atlanta-bound Korean Air plane and received a briefing about the screening process. "I appreciate the hard work that (airport staff are)

March 11, 2020