US suspends routine visa services: State Department

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States is suspending routine visa services in most countries because of the coronavirus pandemic, the State Department announced late Wednesday. It said embassies and consulates in "most countries worldwide... will cancel all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments as of March 18, 2020." It did not specify which countries would be exempted from the suspension, which was in response to "worldwide challenges" related to the deadly

March 19, 2020

White House task force sees S. Korea at end of epidemic curve

WASHINGTON -- The White House coronavirus task force said Wednesday it is seeing South Korea and China at the far end of their epidemic curves and studying the two countries to predict patterns in the United States. Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the task force, offered the assessment during a press briefing at the White House. Moments earlier, President Donald Trump said he was invoking the Defense Production Act, which would give him authority to get industries to increase output of me

March 19, 2020

S. Korean chartered flight heads home carrying 80 people evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran

A South Korean government-arranged chartered flight departed for Seoul on Thursday, carrying 80 people evacuated from Iran due to the worsening outbreak of the new coronavirus. The Asiana Airlines plane, with 74 Koreans and six Iranian family members aboard, took off from Al Maktoum International Airport near Dubai at 8:05 a.m. (Korean time), the foreign ministry in Seoul said. It is scheduled to arrive at Incheon International Airport on Thursday afternoon. The evacuees had earlier been air

March 19, 2020

Seoul expands travel advisory to all countries

South Korea's foreign ministry said Wednesday it has issued a travel advisory for all countries previously not affected by its travel warnings prompted by the global spread of the new coronavirus. Under the unprecedented move, all South Koreans are advised to take caution when visiting any foreign country, the ministry said, adding that the level-1 travel advisory will be effective as of Thursday. "All those planning an overseas trip are advised to carefully consider the need and possibl

March 18, 2020

US Embassy to suspend visa interviews as precaution against coronavirus

The US Embassy in Seoul said Wednesday that it will suspend all routine visa interviews this week in line with a State Department measure to respond to the new coronavirus outbreaks. The measure, set to take effect on Thursday, will not affect the visa waiver program for Korean citizens or services for US citizens, the embassy said. "The US Embassy to the Republic of Korea will cancel all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments as of March 19, 2020," the embassy said in

March 18, 2020

Foreign demands rapidly increasing for S. Korean-made coronavirus test kits, knowhow: official

A growing number of foreign countries have been asking about importing South Korean-made coronavirus diagnostic kits and other forms of aid to help curb the pandemic, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday. Such calls have been rising as Seoul's containment efforts have led to a slowdown in new COVID-19 cases and a low fatality rate, which have created breathing space for South Korea to look beyond its shores to embrace a broader role in the global fight against the virus. "We have b

March 18, 2020

Korea sends military planes to secure more medical gowns amid anti-virus efforts

South Korea dispatched two military transport aircraft to Myanmar on Wednesday to bring back 80,000 sets of surgical gowns for use in dealing with the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said. The Air Force C-130J planes departed for the Southeast Asian nation from Gimhae airport, near the southeastern city of Busan, marking the first time that military planes have been mobilized to bring commercial goods into the country, the ministry said. The planes are scheduled to return to Seoul's Gi

March 18, 2020

S. Korea to bring home part of rotational troops from South Sudan

South Korea will bring back part of its troops from South Sudan without sending a replacement contingent for the time being due to coronavirus concerns, government sources said Wednesday. The decision to bring home about 210 troops of the 270-strong Hanbit Unit came after South Sudan officially asked Seoul and other foreign countries not to send fresh troops in the wake of the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus across the globe. About 150 service members will return home this month and th

March 18, 2020

Coronavirus spurs exodus of South Koreans from Europe

With the novel coronavirus spreading fast around the world, a growing number of South Koreans living in hard-hit countries such as Italy and France are seeking to flee home. 　 There are some 5,000 Korean nationals residing in Italy, where COVID-19 has killed more than 2,000 people and sickened nearly 28,000, making it the worst-affected country outside of China, where the virus emerged late last year. 　 Korean residents there are arranging a charter flight to Korea, according to news reports.

March 17, 2020

S. Korea, China, Japan hold conference call on coronavirus response

The foreign ministries of South Korea, China and Japan held a working-level conference call on Tuesday to discuss cooperation in stemming the regional and global spread of the new coronavirus, officials said. Kim Jung-han, director-general for Asian and Pacific affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, joined the call with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts, Wu Jianghao and Shigeki Takizaki. In the call, they agreed to explore ways to hold trilateral talks among the foreign ministers of their

March 17, 2020

150 countries, territories restricting entry from S. Korea over coronavirus fears

Ten more countries have banned the entry of people from South Korea over coronavirus concerns, raising the total number of countries and territories imposing such entry or quarantine restrictions to 150, even though Seoul has seen a marked drop in new infections. Eighty-five countries and territories were set to impose or were already imposing an entry ban on people from Korea, up from 75 the previous day, the foreign ministry's chart showed Tuesday. Canada was the latest in the list with it

March 17, 2020

Senior diplomats of S. Korea, US hold phone talks over fight against new coronavirus

Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States held phone talks Tuesday to discuss joint efforts to fight the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said, as Seoul's anti-virus efforts have led to a drop in new infections and a low fatality rate. First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young and US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun discussed the global containment efforts and their countries' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic that has sickened thousands of citizens and disrupted dail

March 17, 2020

Trump: S. Korea did 'good job' but had 'tremendous problems' fighting virus

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Monday that South Korea did a "good job" handling the coronavirus outbreak but also had "tremendous problems" at the start. Trump made the remark at a White House press briefing as he defended his own administration's response to the growing outbreak in the United States. "I noticed a lot of people are talking about South Korea because they've done a good job on one side, but on the other side, tremendous problems at the be

March 17, 2020

Seoul extends special quarantine to arrivals from Europe

South Korea on Monday extended special quarantine measures to cover arrivals from Europe, amid the surge in coronavirus cases in the region. 　 Previously six countries from the continent -- Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the UK and Netherlands -- were subject to tougher screening procedures. Similar measures have now been in place on arrivals from China, Japan, Iran, Hong Kong and Macao. 　 South Korean nationals and foreigners arriving from Europe are required to have their temperatures checke

March 16, 2020

S. Korea wants G-20 session for int'l cooperation on economy, crisis management: Cheong Wa Dae

South Korea hopes the leaders of the Group of 20 nations will hold a teleconference for international coordination on ways to overcome the economic crisis, not just for the purpose of sharing its widely lauded response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. President Moon Jae-in floated the idea in phone talks with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, last Friday. Chung Eui-yong, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, also had a phone conversation with US National S

March 16, 2020

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