SEOUL (Bloomberg): South Korea warned that its fragile economic recovery is under threat from the coronavirus that has spread dramatically across the country over the past week, and pledged action to minimise the fallout. The epidemic poses a "large concern that it will limit the trend of economic recovery started late last year", First Vice-Minister Kim Yong-beom said on Monday (Feb 24), according to the Finance Ministry. The number of infections in South Korea soared from just over 30 to more than 760 in the past week, with the virus claiming the lives of at least seven people so far. The government is reviewing all possible measures, including an extra budget, local media cited Vice-Minister Kim as saying. South Korea's economy tends to be impacted quickly by global events due to its reliance on trade, especially with China.

Source: The Star February 24, 2020 03:00 UTC