During his meeting with the leaders of four political parties last week, President Moon Jae-in secured a bipartisan commitment for cooperation in fighting the novel coronavirus that has been spreading rapidly in the country. They promised to quickly pass an extra budget the administration plans to submit to the parliament this week to fund efforts to contain the infectious disease, COVID-19, and ease its negative impact on the sluggish economy. Bipartisan cooperation is essential for fighting

Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo told a parliamentary committee Wednesday that “South Koreans who have been to China have spread the virus in Korea from the start.” About 20,000 Chinese people entered South Korea from China each day last month. From a common-sense standpoint, how can he be sure that transmissions of the virus from Chinese visitors have seldom occurred?　 COVID-19 appears to have originated in Wuhan, China, and South Korea’s first confirmed case was C

South Korea’s economy is entering what seems to be shaping up to be a perfect storm, driven by rising fears over the rapid spread of a novel coronavirus. The crippling effects of the epidemic, which originated in China in December, is further weighing on the country’s economy, which has already lost its vitality largely due to ill-conceived policies pursued by the Moon Jae-in administration. Consumer spending has dwindled dramatically while industrial output is being disrupted. Ou

With a surge of infections of the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19, South Korea has reached the pitiful state where it is treated as a “second Wuhan” in the international community. Hong Kong barred entry to nonresident travelers coming from Korea beginning Tuesday. Israel was one of the first countries to deny entry to visitors from Korea. On Saturday it sent back about 170 Koreans, on the same flight that brought them there, soon after they entered the country. Israel also ann