1. On July 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, held a briefing at the Foreign Ministry on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) situation in the Republic of Korea for the Diplomatic Missions and International Organizations accredited to the country. At the briefing, the ROK government informed the diplomatic corps that with the MERS situation in the country coming to an end, there no longer is a reason to be concerned about MERS in the country, and asked for their cooperation in normalizing foreigners’ visits to the ROK.

2. The briefing presided over by Ambassador for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs Lee Key-cheol of the Foreign Ministry marked the second of its kind following the one held on June 8. With the ROK government having yet to officially declare the end of the MERS situation, the July 20 briefing was held to clearly inform the international community that the ROK is safe from MERS and thereby reinvigorate South Korea’s tourism industry and normalize people-to-people exchanges that had remained in a decline amid the MERS situation.

3. In his opening remarks, Ambassador Lee explained in detail that risks of both community infections and infections within hospitals are very low, and, stressed that the MERS outbreak is coming to an end.

◦ Given the circumstances, Ambassador Lee asked the Diplomatic Corps in the ROK to accurately inform their own people of the current, MERS-unaffected situation of the ROK and why it is safe to travel to Korea, and to recommend them to visit the country; requested the countries whose travel advisories for the ROK are still in place that they lift the warnings; and stated that the ROK government will share with the international community the invaluable lessons it learned from fighting the MERS outbreak.

4. In the question and answer session of the briefing, the majority of questioners extended appreciation to the ROK government for holding the briefings on MERS, uploading relevant information in foreign languages on its MERS website and making public such information in a transparent manner; and commended the country for its successful fight against MERS. They also asked questions regarding the outlook for the development of a MERS vaccine; the timing of the ROK government’s declaration of the end of the MERS situation; the damage sustained by foreigners; whether the Public-Private Joint TF Immediate Response Team will remain in service; and ways to prevent the recurrence of the MERS outbreak.

6. On the heels of the briefing, a number of participants mentioned that they were aware of the fact that the ROK had long remained unaffected by MERS. They went on comment that the content of the briefing, including the cited statistics, had helped them see that the MERS situation in the ROK is nearing its end.

7. Furthermore, over the past two months, in a bid to minimize damage from the MERS outbreak, including the sharp decline in the number of foreign tourists to the ROK, the Foreign Ministry had met with officials of foreign embassies in the ROK and foreign governments to update them on the MERS situation and convince them that the ROK had the situation under control. As a result of such diplomatic efforts, most countries have not issued travel advisories for the ROK, while five out of the seven countries that had done so lifted their travel restrictions.

◦ In addition, the Foreign Ministry, led by its embassies in Asian countries that saw a sharp decrease in the number of its travelers to the ROK amid the MERS outbreak, is proactively publicizing the safety of traveling to the ROK through press interviews, article contributions and events.


* unofficial translation